Strictly star helps launch cancer awareness app

Strictly star Amy Dowden has partnered with Gemma Ainger to work on the app

A cancer survivor has teamed up with a Strictly Come Dancing star to launch a breast health awareness app.

Gemma Ainger, 43, from Guernsey, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer which had already spread to her lymph nodes when she went to the doctor about a problem with her knee in 2024.

"Not all breast cancers can be spotted by self-exam but mine could have and I wasn't checking so I didn't spot it," Mrs Ainger said.

She came up with the idea for the app My Breast Friend - which offers advice and helps users log and track self-examinations - while receiving treatment and she later contacted professional dancer Amy Dowden who agreed to support her.

Gemma Ainger came up with the idea for My Breast Friend while she was receiving treatment

Mrs Ainger said it was a "huge shock" when her surgeon in London told her the cancer had likely been growing for about 18 months.

She had her breast removed and went through both chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

"I just thought I've got to do something, I've got to help other people," she said.

"My outcome could have been a lot more positive if I'd been checking."

Mrs Ainger approached Amy Dowden, a professional dancer with the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing, to ask if she would like to be involved with the app.

Mrs Dowden, from Caerphilly in south Wales, was diagnosed in 2023 at the age of 32, also with grade three breast cancer.

She said: "I really, really want to do all I possibly can to get people checking their chests."

The app is supported by the charity Pink Ladies.

"For as long as I live, I'm on a mission to get as many people as I can to check their chests because, who knows, this app one day could end up saving your life," Mrs Dowden said.

Mrs Ainger said: "Don't think of it as a cancer-related app, it's not.

"It was born from cancer but it's about self-care".