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Amy Dowden, who was paired up with Thomas Skinner, has issued a heartbreaking message in the wake of her early departure from Strictly Come Dancing as she claimed she’s “let them down”

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Amy Dowden has shared a heart-wrenching message following her early exit from Strictly Come Dancing, claiming she has “let them down”. Amy, who was partnered with former Apprentice contestant Thomas Skinner, was tragically diagnosed with breast cancer in 2023 after finding a lump just a day before her honeymoon with Ben Jones.

Amyunderwent a mastectomy and IVF treatment. However, in an uplifting update last year, she announced that she had been given the all-clear, previously stating that a health check had shown “no evidence of disease”.

Unfortunately for Amy, who aspired to “represent cancer survivors” on this year’s series of Strictly, she and Thomas were the first pair to be voted off, leaving her feeling “gutted”.

Speaking to Richard Eden of the Mail at the Women of the Year Awards, Amy expressed: “I’m gutted to be out of the competition because I really wanted to represent cancer survivors – and I feel like I’ve let them down.”

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She went on to say: “I wanted Thomas to go far but, selfishly, I wanted to do it for the cancer community. Since my diagnosis, I came back, got pulled out, came back again and then finished last.

“I just wanted to show what you can be capable of following life after cancer.”

She detailed how she’d told herself that participating in the competition and returning to the dance floor would demonstrate to people that there’s “life after” a cancer diagnosis.

Before their departure, Amy and Thomas danced a salsa to Dizzee Rascal’s Bonkers, but Strictly judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, and Craig Revel Horwood chose to save Chris Robshaw and his partner, Nadiya Bychkova.

Following the decision, Amy revealed she’d “got to know” the “real Tom”, describing him as “adorable”. She also mentioned how he’d “looked after” her and they’d “laughed so much”.

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She continued: “We’ve worked so hard and a glitterball would have been amazing, but what I’ve learnt in the last few years is happiness, health and being alive is more important than anything. I’ve made a new friend for life and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Meanwhile, Thomas expressed that he had “great fun” on the show and praised his dance partner as a “different class.” This comes after reports that Amy has shared a prediction about the current series.

Amy revealed to the Independent her “dark horse” for the 2025 competition. Speaking to the publication at the same awards, she highlighted former footballer Karen Carney.

She commented: “A footballer, who would have thought it… I love the way she’s coming out there and she’s selling these performances.”

Queen frontman Freddie Mercury handed over unpublished notebooks which will form 2026 book

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Freddie Mercury’s former fiancé and dearest friend Mary Austin is bringing out a book about the music icon on what would have been his 80th birthday.

When Freddie passed away in 1991, he left to his former fiancé and dearest friend Mary Austin not only his house and possessions but also a creative archive spanning almost two decades. From his earliest works before Queen was formed, right through to the end of his solo career, his notebooks and doodlings contain previously unpublished material including alternate lyrics and abandoned verses for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and multiple drafts of ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, as well as entire songs that were never recorded.

The new book will feature these accompanied by stories, memories, and anecdotes from his lifelong companion, and illustrated with photographs from Freddie’s personal collection, many of which have never been published before.

The book called A Life in Lyrics is being described as “the definitive creative record” of one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

Mary Austin said: “In early 2023, in the midst of cataloguing the contents of Garden Lodge, this wonderful home Freddie had left to me, I began to leaf through the papers my family and I had collected together from where they had lain, undisturbed and unseen, in the house for over thirty years.

“Here were the working drafts for Freddie’s lyrics, set down across loose sheets of paper and in simple, plain notebooks that entirely belied the wonders within. This reemergence of Freddie’s handwritten notes, offering a window into his brilliant, creative mind, stirred up many memories from decades passed, of conversations, occasions and emotions. Freddie’s songs continue to bring so much happiness, and solace, to so many.

“I hope that by sharing his manuscripts now, contextualised with fresh insights and a sprinkling of vignettes of our lives together, I will illuminate the remarkable creative force of my dear friend for the enjoyment of everyone he continues to delight and inspire, even after all these years.”

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The new book will follow on from a biography published this year. The Queen legend, who died in 1991 at the age of 45 after being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, fathered a daughter in the 1970s according to evidence gathered by his most prolific biographer.

According to the new investigation by Lesley-Ann Jones, Freddie kept private journals and notebooks in which he recorded his life story and innermost thoughts, and documented his relationship with his daughter over a period of 14 years.

Lesley-Ann learned about the personal documents when “B” tracked her down and contacted her. The two women developed a friendship over several years, which culminated in “B” granting Lesley-Ann permission to share the contents of the journals, as well as her own memories of Freddie, for a new book entitled Love, Freddie.

In it, Jones presents what could be a fresh understanding of Freddie’s private life and personal struggles. According to “B”, this will be the first and only time that Freddie’s true life story will have been told by his own flesh and blood.

* A Life in Lyrics by Freddie Mercury with Mary Austin will be published on September 1, 2026 by HarperNonFiction.

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The TV personality, 44, and Kanye, 48, tied the knot in 2014, but she filed for divorce seven years later, citing irreconcilable differences

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Kim Kardashian has revealed her struggles from her ‘toxic’ marriage to rapper Kanye West, with whom she shares North, Chicago, Psalm and Saint. The TV personality, 44, and Kanye, 48, tied the knot in 2014, but she filed for divorce seven years later, citing irreconcilable differences.

Their divorce was finalised in November 2022, with the two agreeing to share joint custody of their four children. Three years on, Kim has admitted she finds it hard to date and opened up about the difficulties she has with co-parenting. Speaking to Alex Cooper on the Call Her Daddy podcast, she said she was attracted to Ye because of his intelligence.

She said he was ‘larger than life’ and the two ‘had such a fun time’ together.

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However, their relationship soon crumbled, and Kanye soon started to publicly hit out at his family.

“When someone has like their first mental break, you want to be super supportive and you want to help figure that out and be there for them,” she explained.

“But when someone isn’t willing to make changes that I think would’ve been super healthy and beneficial, it makes it really hard to continue on in a relationship that can be toxic.”

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Having children made it difficult for her to leave, and she stayed with the rapper, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016 but later claimed he was misdiagnosed, in hopes he would improve.

When things never improved, she decided to leave and show their kids a ‘good example of setting boundaries’.

“I had to save myself in order to be a better mum for everyone,” Kim admitted. “And I think when everyone’s older they’ll be able to understand it and see that all.”

When asked about what the ‘final straw’ was, she said: “There was just a lot of things that I wouldn’t deal with. I didn’t like the talking bad about my kids’ grandmother, aunts – if someone feels that way, then we shouldn’t be together. You know, airing out a lot of stuff, a lot of personal stuff.”

She didn’t feel safe ’emotionally or financially’, explaining: “I mean we had five Lamborghinis and I’d come home and they’d all be gone if he was in an episode. And I’d be like, ‘Oh, hey where’s all our cars? My new car.’ And it would be like, ‘oh, he gave them away to all of his friends.’

“And then I’d come home again and at a different point we had five more Lamborghinis and then he’d wake up in another episode and they’d all be gone again. But you didn’t know what you’re going to get [from Kanye] when you wake up. And that’s a really unsettling feeling. It’s a lack of stability.”

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