Amy

Celebrity Hunted line-up in full with Amy Dowden and Brian Conley competing with Love Island stars

The full line-up for Celebrity Hunted on Channel 4 has been released, with stars from Strictly Come Dancing, EastEnders, Love Island and more battling the Hunters.

Celebrity Hunted is officially returning to our screens, with a fresh batch of stars going on the run to help raise money for Stand Up To Cancer.

More than a decade after the first series of Hunted aired on Channel 4, the hit show will be returning to our screens very soon – as a string of famous faces will become fugitives in August.

EastEnders icon Brian Conley will be competing with his daughter Lucy, while Strictly Come Dancing stars Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu are also hoping to go unnoticed by Ray Howard and his “elite team of Hunters”.

Love Islanders Chris Taylor and Toby Aromolaran will be taking part, beside JJ Chalmers and Sophie Morgan, and presenters and siblings Scarlette and Stuart Douglas. Comedians Jen Brister and Laura Smythe also make up the line-up.

The celebrity pairs will have to “vanish into mainland Britain, cutting themselves off from the lives – and the fame – they’ve always relied upon. For 14 relentless days they must stay hidden, think fast and trust no one because the moment they leave a trail, the hunt is on.

“In a world where almost every movement leaves a footprint, can these celebrity fugitives escape the glare of the spotlight and remain under the radar, or will the Hunters bring every fugitive into custody before the 14 days are up?”

While Hunted first aired in 2015, the celebrity version began two years later – The Wanted singers Jay McGuinness and Siva Kaneswaran outwitted the Hunters to take home the crown in 2017.

The most recent season aired at the beginning of last year, with Christine McGuinness and Duncan James defeating the Hunters.

Shedding light on the upcoming season of Celebrity Hunted, which will begin filming next month, Factual Entertainment Commissioning Editor for Channel 4 Ian Dunkley said: ”When celebrities go on the run and are forced to engage the help of us mere mortals, chaos and comedy inevitably ensue.

“Hunted down by a motivated team of police and security professionals, this series reveals what it takes to remain hidden when everybody knows what you look like.’’

Matt Bennett, Director of Programmes for Shine TV, added: “Celebrity Hunted is the only TV series – alongside its cousin, Hunted – which continues to remind us of the powers of the state in an entertaining and engaging way.

“This is our most ambitious series yet, beginning with a breathtaking aerial launch amongst the skyscrapers of London, then a daring escape at the end of the run for any who evade capture… with a great deal of entertaining mischief in between.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .



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Amy Winehouse was a lost jewel

THE Rolling Stones and Amy Winehouse — somehow it was a match made it heaven.

On June 10, 2007, the original rock and roll miscreants invited the supremely gifted but wayward singer on stage at the Isle Of Wight Festival.

Ronnie Wood opens up about his close friendship with Amy calling her ‘a very lost jewel in the jewellery box but she was wonderful’, above Ronnie with Amy in 2007 Credit: Richard Young/Shutterstock
Now the Stones are releasing a cover of Amy’s You Know I’m No Good, above Ronnie, Mick and Keith now Credit: Unknown

Amy was all the rage that summer with her second (and final) album Back To Black riding high in the charts. Britain and the world had taken her songs to their hearts — Rehab, You Know I’m No Good, Tears Dry On Their Own and Love Is A Losing Game among them.

At the festival, Amy wore a pristine white shirt, skinny black jeans, a chunky belt, ballet flats and THAT towering beehive.

She looked every inch at home next to the man with all the moves, Mick Jagger — a lean, sinewy T-shirted figure in an all-black outfit.

Together, they belted out a wild rendition of The Temptations’ soul classic Ain’t Too Proud To Beg.

Together, they perfectly captured the rebellious spirit of rock and roll.

When Amy died four years later aged just 27, the world lost a generational talent — a sultry, emotionally wrought voice for the ages.

Now, in 2026, the Stones are releasing a cover of Amy’s You Know I’m No Good on their vibrant, age- defying 25th studio album, Foreign Tongues.

I’ve had the chance to speak to guitarist and lovable rogue Ronnie Wood about the song, his close friendship with Amy — and all things related to the eclectic 14-track album.

By Stones standards, it’s a rapid-fire follow-up to 2023’s Hackney ­Diamonds and a freewheeling ­confection of rock, soul, dance, country, blues and balladry.

“We just loved to pay tribute to Amy because she was such a jewel,” Ronnie says with typical warmth.

“A very lost jewel in the jewellery box but she was wonderful.”

At the time of Isle Of Wight, Ronnie was still battling alcohol addiction himself and he discovered an immediate bond with troubled Amy.

“We came back on the ferry together and had such a laugh,” he recalls. “Then shortly before Amy died, I had a real in-depth [chat] with her in the garden of a hotel in Rio.

“She was asking me, ‘Oh Ron, what am I going to do? And I was going, ‘Don’t worry because everyone knows you’ve got vodka in your water bottle. Just don’t hide it and try to go on stage tonight.

“Her band pleaded with me. They went, ‘Ronnie, please get her to go on — she’s trying to pull out of the gig.’ Anyway, I talked her through stuff and she did go on.”

“Amy needed a carer all the time otherwise she went off the rails, which of course she did.”

Amy and Mick’s duet with the Stones at the Isle of Wight in 2007 Credit: Getty Images
Ronnie with Mick at Metropolis Studios this week Credit: Unknown

I ask Ronnie where Amy ­Winehouse should be placed in the pantheon of great female singers, past and present.

“There are some lovely singers around,” he answers. “They arrive in spasms. Chanel Haynes from my band is great — she played Tina Turner [in the stage musical] and really has the essence of Tina. I also like Jessie J.

“But Amy was like Billie Holiday. She had that once-in-a-lifetime deep blues. It’s a pity she was her own worst enemy.”

Of the Stones’ rousing rendition of You Know I’m No Good, Ronnie says: “I love the way Mick has put the harmonica over the brass riff.”

Mick himself reflected on the song this week at an intimate fan playback at Metropolis Studios in Chiswick, West London, where much of Foreign Tongues was recorded.

“We decided we wanted to cover this Amy Winehouse song. We do it in the same key as her. There’s a well-known horn lick on that record and I thought, ‘Yeah, I can do that. I’ll do it on the harmonica.”

Mick is accompanied by Ronnie but minus Keith Richards, who’s at home in the States and sends a video message saying “god bless you all”.

Wearing a floral shirt beneath a black leather jacket despite the heat outside, Mick, the planet’s most sprightly octogenarian, is in expansive mood. He saunters into the room and greets the assembled throng from countries far and wide with a World Cup quip, “Apologies to anyone from Mexico!” Cue much laughter.

The Stones seen in New York in 1978 Credit: Getty Images
Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger pictured in 2011 Credit: Penske Media via Getty Images

With his face wreathed in smiles, he peers around the sound-proofed room and says: “We had a lot of fun making this record in this very room.

“It didn’t look quite like this,” he adds before waving his arms in ­different directions.

“The drums were over there, Ronnie was there, I was there, Keith was there.” Ronnie also can’t help a reference to important football matters when he describes the band’s preparations for the sessions at Metropolis.

“We had a lot of rehearsals — a bit like practising for the World Cup — at Electric Lady Studios in New York and on the West Coast at Jim Henson’s studios.”

The subject soon moves on to how the Stones have kept going nearly 65 years after Jagger and Richards met on Platform 2 of Dartford railway station and decided to be in a band together.

Listen to Foreign Tongues and you’ll be astonished by Mick’s still jaw-dropping range.

So how does he keep his most precious instrument — his vocal cords — in shape?

He says: “With other instruments, you can see them — a guitar, a piano — but you can’t see your vocal cords.

“So, you can’t say, ‘Oh they look really good today, I’ll do this.’

“If anything goes wrong, the doctor has to look at them. You have to keep them in shape like a muscle.” How does Ronnie keep his fingers nimble enough to dance across the fretboard? “There are exercises for the hands,” he replies. “And I put arnica [a herbal remedy] on them because they can hurt a lot.”

Mick says: “The thing with Ronnie is that he’s very good because he doesn’t stop playing, either with another band or doing his own gigs.”

This helps explain why Ronnie’s guitar work is a prominent feature of Foreign Tongues.

“When the first mix was finished, Ronnie came to my house and I played him the whole record,” reveals Mick. “I said, ‘So, what do you think Ron?’ And he said, ‘I didn’t really get any solos.’”

That comment was a classic piece of Ronnie mischief because, as Mick points out, “No one else gets a guitar solo on the record apart from Ronnie!

“I get a harmonica solo but Keith doesn’t really get a solo,” he adds before turning to his bandmate and asking, ‘Why is that, Ronnie?’ Ronnie gives a knowing smirk and says: “Keith told me, ‘Anyone can play a solo, it’s the riff that matters!’

“And I said, ‘OK, you’ve done the groundwork there but I’ve got the icing on the cake.”’

This brings us to a wider discussion about the Foreign Tongues sessions which prompts Ronnie to chip in with: “We’re much more civilised than we used to be.”

Mick picks up the thread: “I’m always the last to arrive. I’m not sure how that happens.

“We usually start about half past three and finish at about ten, ­having agreed the night before what we’re going to do.”

Ronnie salutes producer Andrew Watt, the live-wire American ­producer who helmed Hackney Diamonds and Paul McCartney’s recent album, The Boys Of ­Dungeon Lane. “We need someone to boss us around, and Andrew did that.”

Mick interjects: “Otherwise, it would all fall to bits! So we’re very pleased that Andrew herds us into doing it.”

Ronnie comes back in with a very telling comment: “Mick never lets anything fall to bits because the Rolling Stones is his baby — and he won’t let anything destroy that.”

The Stones’ approach these days clearly has something to do with the fact they’re all sober.

Yet Foreign Tongues has drawn comparisons to 1978’s Some Girls, Ronnie’s first album as a full-time member — recorded when things were far less civilised.

For instance, the disco-inflected Jealous Lover, with Mick still able to produce his best falsetto, is reminiscent of Miss You. Elsewhere, the band summons the raw energy of Respectable or Shattered.

The frontman sifts through the mists of time to the sessions at Pathé Marconi in Paris: “In the late Seventies, I’d have to dig Ronnie and Keith out of a late-night pizza place. I’d go in there at 1am and say, ‘It’s time for the studio, lads!’

“And poor Bill Wyman [bassist] had been in the studio since six o’clock waiting for us.

“We’d get there at 2am and we’d leave at eight. We’d run into the factory workers getting their ­morning coffees.”

Ronnie laughs: “We played for so long back in those days that Bill would have a sleep, come back and we’d still be playing.”

With the album out tomorrow, Mick is asked about his hopes for a good reception for Foreign Tongues. It prompts a comparison with an album many regard as the Stones’ finest, released in 1972.

With 14 new songs about to be unleashed, he accepts that it’s “a lot of music” and says: “It’s longer than Exile On Main St. When that came out, reviewers generally said things like, “It’s kind of rambling and all over the place.”

“It was too much for people to take in all at once. But, from the reviews I’ve seen, we are getting very good ones [for Foreign Tongues].

The album is notable for guest appearances — Steve Winwood, The Cure’s Robert Smith and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith.

One song, the “punky” Hit Me In The Head features the late effortlessly cool Stones drummer Charlie Watts. Mick explains: “People would say, ‘Charlie’s such a subtle drummer, he loves jazz — you can hear that soft touch.

“Well, not on this one. This one sounds banging, banging, banging — very punk. We recorded it in 2021.”

In my chat with Ronnie, he talks about Paul McCartney’s bass playing on Covered In You, reprising his role on Hackney Diamonds track Bite My Head Off.

He says: “Oh Paul was so lovely.  He said playing with the Stones was one of his biggest ambitions. He loved it, like a kid in a toy shop.”

He remembers how in The Beatles and Stones’ early days, he was a bystander in a band called The Birds,” but told himself that one day he would join Mick, Keith and co.

Why the Stones? “Because I’m more of a jazzer and a bluesman,” he replies. “I respected The Beatles’ music, their adventurousness, but I liked the funk and the women around the Stones.

“I thought, ‘That looks like a good job.’ Then, like a jigsaw, all the pieces fell into place.”

Finally, I beg the question: Is there’s more in the tank from the world’s greatest rock and roll band?

“There is, but what we’ve got to do is survive!” says Ronnie.

ROLLING STONES

Foreign Tongues

★★★★★

The Stones’ age-defying 25th studio album, Foreign Tongues Credit: Unknown

AS Mick Jagger says, this is “a lot of music.”

But over 14 tracks, the Stones have a blast.

There’s the ragged majesty of Rough And Twisted, the dance floor-primed Jealous Lover, the politically charged Mr Charm, the country twang of Ringing Hollow, the three-minute punk mayhem of Hit Me In The Head, a yearning Keith Richards lead vocal on Some Of Us and the raw delta blues of Chuck Berry’s Beautiful Delilah.

At times, it needs to be a little rougher around the edges, but this high-energy album is nothing short of a miracle from rock and roll’s great survivors.   

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Rapper Cardi B pays homage to Amy Winehouse with beehive hairstyle 15 years after tragic Brit star’s death

RAPPER Cardi B pays homage to the late Amy Winehouse with a style just like the Brit singer’s — including her trademark beehive.

The US star, 33, sported winged eyeliner, similar to Amy’s signature look, along with a purple, figure-hugging dress to a party at Paris Fashion Week.

Rapper Cardi B channels Amy Winehouse with a beehive tribute to the late singer at Paris Fashion Week Credit: Splash
It has been 15 years since Amy’s tragic death at the age of just 27 Credit: Getty

Amy also wore a purple frock to the premiere of the film Psychosis in London in 2010.

This month marks 15 years since the Back To Black singer’s death at the age of just 27.

During her career, Amy had a string of showbiz spats, including mocking singer Dido and putting an Alexander McQueen dress on a barbecue after a fall-out.

She also called US rapper Kanye West the C-word on stage at Glastonbury in 2008.

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Cardi B on stage Credit: Getty
Sabrina Carpenter was also spotted out attending a Paris Fashion Week event Credit: Getty

Now Cardi has revealed her own feuds have cost her lucrative brand deals, following ding-dongs with fellow rappers Nicki Minaj, Latto and BIA.

The New York-born star told her followers on X: “No lie, last year when I went off, I lost about three deals.

“I lost about three deals when I was bugging out and violating, and giving b*****s the f***ing business.”

Paris Fashion Week will continue until tomorrow evening, with a series of A-listers travelling to the French capital for a schedule of high-end events.

Fresh from attending Taylor Swift’s wedding to Travis Kelce in New York on Friday, Jennifer Lopez, 56, was photographed heading to a party on Monday in a halter-neck evening gown.

Meanwhile, singer Sabrina ­Carpenter, 27, wore a white dress to Dior’s haute couture autumn/winter fashion show held on the same evening.

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Amy Childs shows off her weight loss as she strips down to cut-out swimsuit for Towie filming in Albania

AMY Childs has shown off her weight loss with a new swimsuit snap from Albania, where she is currently filming for the upcoming series of Towie.

The reality star, 35, opened up about slimming down earlier this year, admitting she had lost more weight than originally planned due to stress.

Amy Childs has shown off her weight loss as she posed in a black swimsuit Credit: Instagram
The TV star is currently in Albania filming for the upcoming season of Towie Credit: Instagram

Filming herself in a new Instagram Story, Amy donned a cut-out black swimsuit which showed off her slender figure while posing in the mirror.

Tagging Albania as her location, Amy joked she “couldn’t miss out” on jetting off with her castmates to film for Towie.

It comes after she has sat out previous overseas trips on the show due to having family commitments back home.

Amy is a mum to daughter Polly and son Ritchie, whom she welcomed during previous relationships, and shares twins Milly and Billy with her husband Billy Delbosq.

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She opened up about the weight loss earlier this year, admitting she lost more than planned due to stress Credit: Instagram
Mum-of-four Amy (pictured in 2023) said she went on a fitness journey to lose excess baby weight Credit: Getty
However, it left fans concerned as they worried Amy had gone too far while shedding the pounds Credit: Instagram
Amy says she is currently on a fitness journey to get back to a healthy weight Credit: Instagram/amychilds1990

In January, she confirmed she wouldn’t be joining the cast trip to Vietnam due to mum duties.

She appears to be making the most of the welcomed break now the cast have arrived in Albania for the show’s upcoming season.

However, showing it’s not easy being away, she also shared a snap of the twins and admitted: “I miss you babies”.

It comes after Amy revealed in February that she was working to get to a healthy weight after going on a fitness journey and shedding more than planned.

Explaining she is now working with a trainer to put some more weight on, she said at the time: “So I decided to lose weight, during that process, I battled with stress and lost a little more than I wanted, and now I am working with Jon to start phase 2!! Which I am so excited about.”

With Amy often sharing her shrinking fame online, some fans have been left concerned for the star and have expressed worry underneath her social snaps.

Addressing her weight loss and the backlash, Amy explained in May that her mum suffering a heart attack led to increased stress as she was unable to eat for several months.

“When I lost all my weight, I must admit I went so skinny. At one point, I was around 6 stone 13 lbs,” said Amy.

She continued: “It was about 3, 4 months after [the heart attack], I was so skinny. I couldn’t train, I just had this anxious, anxiety.”

Amy then confirmed she is feeling much better now and says she is training and eating well again.

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Amy Dowden discovers 13-year-old family member was shot dead in shocking tragedy

The Strictly Come Dancing star learns of her ancestor’s devastating fate in a new episode of Who Do You Think You Are?

Amy Dowden discovers a shocking family tragedy as she delves into her ancestry.

The Strictly Come Dancing icon has taken part in BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? where she learns about her lineage.

At one point, Amy is left in tears as she hears of a family member who suffered from breast cancer and died at a young age, leaving several children behind.

The Welsh dancer is left devastated, as she reflects on her own cancer battle, having been diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2023 and suffering health setbacks as she underwent treatment.

Elsewhere during the programme, Amy learns of a 13-year-old who was shot dead in an awful accident.

After hearing of a rumour of a murder from her mum’s side of the family, Amy begins her journey in west Wales, where she seeks to find out if her ancestor was the victim or the perpetrator.

“Was there a murder, was one of my family involved? Detective Dowden on a mission,” Amy declares.

She meets her distant cousin Wyn at his home in Ceredigion, where he shows Amy a family Bible that belonged to her three-times great-grandfather.

Inside it, she reads the name Elinor Jenkins, with information revealing that she was shot dead by the “cruel man Offley Owen” in November 1888, when she was just a teenager.

“Why would somebody want to shoot a 14-year-old girl?” Amy wonders, shocked to hear the distressing news of her ancestor’s murder.

“When I heard of this mysterious death, I didn’t think it would be somebody within our family who was killed, I assumed one of our family members shot somebody. I was not expecting this and not expecting a child,” she says.

Elinor was Amy’s three-times great aunt, and was killed at a nearby farm, Berthlwyd, where she worked as a servant.

The dancer meets historian Dr Angela Muir, who confirmed that Elinor was actually aged 13, and was working at the farm with a 17-year-old boy called Offley Owen.

She reads newspaper reports that detail what happened, revealing that Elinor had been sent to fetch water before a witness heard Owen saying “I’ve shot Nelly dead”.

Owen had taken up the gun “with a purpose of showing her”, but was unaware it was loaded, and was supposedly being playful.

He did, however, tragically kill her, with Elinor being shot in the mouth.

“This is awful,” Amy says. “That would have been an instant death.” The historian agrees, saying: “It’s quite horrific.”

However, Amy finds it difficult to believe the death came about as an accident. She wonders: “He obviously had intention to use that gun,” adding: “To me, this was planned.”

Amy hears about the coroner’s inquest that took place after Elinor’s death, leaving her “confused”.

The reports eventually confirmed that Owen was charged with manslaughter, and would have been tried in the assizes court in Carmarthen.

“I’m horrified by what I’ve read, it’s going to take a little time to process it,” Amy admits.

In Carmarthen, Amy meets another historian who explains that Owen pleaded not guilty at court and the prosecution announced they would call no witnesses.

She’s stunned to discover that Owen was discharged, which would often happen in cases like these during those times, as the court took into account that he had never been in trouble with the law before.

“Some part of me is not satisfied with this,” Amy says, hearing that the victim’s family didn’t get justice after the tragedy.

Seeking comfort after hearing of the outcome, Amy travels to a church in Blaenpennal, where Elinor was laid to rest.

She says: “At first when I heard that he was found not guilty, I was like, how did the family move on? How did they start to process the grief? But it does seem like it was an accident and I guess, after time, they started to forgive.”

She learns that Elinor was remembered “as a young person of more than ordinary ability”, and also that a valley near the farm where she lost her life is now named after her.

Amy says: “I never realised that a member of my family has landscape named after her, I think that’s something quite special, really touching.”

Amy Dowden’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? airs on Tuesday 2 June at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer

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Katie Price’s sister reveals mum Amy is ‘so p****d off’ with star after ‘embarrassing’ new snub for husband Lee Andrews

KATIE Price’s sister has revealed how her mum Amy was left so “p***ed off” with the star after another debacle involving husband Lee Andrews.

Last week, following his ‘disappearance’, Katie posted a cover version of the song Get Here and said her desire to record the song had come after being left missing Lee.

Katie Price’s stunt has left her mother ‘p***ed off’ Credit: Alamy
Amy Price was left angry with her daughter after she claimed a song she had recorded for her – was actually for ‘missing’ husband Lee Credit: instagram

But in a new episode of their sister’s podcast, The Katie Price Show, Sophie revealed how Katie had originally told their mum she had recorded it for her.

The track came about as Katie enjoyed a recording session for her upcoming single.

During a break, she revealed how she had asked to record a cover of Get Here as a treat for her mum with the song being a family favourite.

Katie then sent the track to her mum but shortly after posted it online and dedicated it to Lee.

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Lee went missing and Katie then shared a recording she had dedicated to him Credit: Instagram
But it seems she had told her mum it was for her Credit: Getty

The move left Amy feeling “p***ed off” with Katie according to Sophie.

Katie originally said: “I did it for mum.

“I said to mum, ‘I know you love this song’.

“But… she’s so p***ed off.”

Sophie interjected to add: “She was so p***ed off right because you put that Reel up…

“Kate called mum and was like I’ve been in the studio and made this song for you.

“Then Kate put it up on Instagram and was like, ‘oh it’s for Lee and for the situation.”

Katie went on to say: “I thought, do you know what, these words actually resonate with what’s going on.

“So then I put it up for Lee.”

Katie proceeded to sing some of the lyrics which included the lines: “You can reach me by sail boat, you can reach me on an airplane.”

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Strictly’s Amy Dowden in tears as she uncovers ‘shocking’ family secret

The Strictly Come Dancing star turns detective to investigate the mysterious death of her 14-year-old great-aunt in 1888, before uncovering a heartbreaking truth about why her grandfather was the only one of six siblings to be given up for adoption

Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden is set to turn detective this week as she delves into her Welsh family history – uncovering a potentially murderous story and a heartbreaking family secret that left her in tears.

The professional dancer, 35, takes centre stage in the second episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, airing tonight, as she embarks on an emotional journey through West Wales that will see her investigate a rumoured murder and discover the painful truth behind her grandfather’s adoption.

Amy’s investigation begins with the death of her three-times great aunt Elinor, who died aged just 14 on a farm in 1888. Playing detective, the Caerphilly-born dancer travels through Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, desperate to uncover what really happened to her young relative all those years ago.

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“I really enjoyed playing detective but, gosh, what we unravelled there,” Amy says. “I found myself really wanting to learn more, faster and quicker. I didn’t want to wait to have to go to court or wait to learn more from another historian, you get really hungry wanting all the answers as quickly as possible.”

While the murder mystery remains open-ended, Amy discovers something special along the way – that a valley in Wales, Cwm Nell, is named after one of her relatives. “It’s so beautiful to be able to see the impact she made in her short life,” she adds.

But it’s on her father’s side where Amy makes the most devastating discovery. Determined to find answers for her dad, who never had information about his own father Frank’s birth family, Amy uncovers why her grandfather was the only one of six siblings to be unofficially adopted.

Frank was informally adopted as a baby after his mother Louisa died of breast cancer aged 39 and his father Bill, a Welsh miner, was left struggling to support six children during the 1921 miners’ strike.

“It was really shocking and emotional, but it was the answer to so many questions,” she explains. “Before we struggled to understand why my grandad Frank, who was one of several siblings, was the only one given up. We could never really understand why. But from the information we learnt, I think we felt a real sense of empathy, and then the sadness and heartache for them took over, really.

“My dad’s reaction to the news was that he was really shocked and quite upset.”

The journey also sheds light on her great-grandfather’s honourable service during the war and the harsh conditions faced by her working-class mining family. “You know about the history, but I don’t think you ever know about the severity of it all,” Amy reflects. “When you’re reading and seeing how it affected your own family it hits differently.”

For Amy, who is Welsh “through and through,” the experience has only deepened her connection to her homeland. “It’s made me even more proud to be Welsh,” she says. Her parents were so captivated by her discoveries that they retraced her steps, visiting every location from the programme.

The episode has brought together family members together, including Amy’s second cousin. “It really brought families who had never met before together. It’s been really heartwarming, really lovely.”

Who Do You Think You Are? airs on BBC One tonight at 9pm

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Amy Dowden in tears as she makes emotional cancer discovery about family member

Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden was left in tears after uncovering a heartbreaking family discovery.

Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden was left fighting back tears after uncovering a heartbreaking family secret during her appearance on BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?

The beloved dancer delved into her ancestry on the popular genealogy programme, where she made a series of shocking discoveries about her family’s past.

Among them was the devastating revelation that a 13-year-old relative had been murdered, prompting Amy to seek out the truth behind the tragedy.

However, it was another discovery that truly struck a chord with the Welsh star. Exploring her dad’s side of the family after learning her grandfather had been adopted, Amy uncovered the story of her great-grandmother Louisa, who passed away young, leaving behind several small children.

The emotional revelation hit particularly close to home for Amy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2023, aged 32, after finding a lump before her honeymoon with husband Ben Jones.

Upon learning that Louisa had died in 1921 at just 39 years old from breast cancer, Amy was visibly overcome with emotion, reports Wales Online.

“Oh my goodness,” Amy said, speechless for a moment. “That’s made me a little bit emotional.”

Pausing to compose herself, she tearfully shared, “She was only in her 30s. I wonder if there’s a link between her and me.”

Amy continued: “What an awful few years they went through, the war and then this cancer diagnosis, never mind then the Lockout with the collieries.

“My mum had breast cancer and witnessing her go through it, that was tough. Just the thought of the family having to go through what we went through, and it would have been worse then.

“But also, knowing the timing as well. Poor Bill, losing his wife to breast cancer and then having six children.

“Also, she had one of the same type of breast cancers as me, and I’d love to find out more, did she get surgery, did she have treatment? Was there a chance of cure?”

She added, “Knowing what she went through is horrible, but I’m lucky, I’m still here; it took her life, so it’s a bit raw.”

Hearing of the treatment that wouldn’t have been available for Louisa, with cancer at the time known as an incurable disease, Amy shared: “I can’t imagine, I know what it’s like to have a cancer diagnosis, but I’m a lucky one, I’ve been able to come out the other side.”

Louisa’s six children were aged between 11 years old and just one year old, including Amy’s grandfather Frank, who was informally adopted after her death.

“You instantly just feel for these children,” Amy said. “To lose their mum, the girls grew up without a mother and probably also had to become a mother really to the younger siblings.”

She continued, “It’s heartbreaking to see a family go through losing a mum. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to be told you’ve got cancer, and knowing then that was a death sentence.

“I’d imagine Louisa and Bill had to make a very difficult decision, most likely together, about my grandfather Frank, and that must have been absolutely heartbreaking.”

Amy Dowden’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? airs on Tuesday 2 June at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer, with Zoe Ball’s episode airing tonight.

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