Amy Dowden on landing her dream TV role and why it’s ok to be different

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Professional dancer Amy Dowden best known, for BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, partnered up with CBeebies Bedtime Stories and BBC Moodboosters for an appearance to mark Children's Mental Health Week.

Amy read The Colour Monster, a tale about a monster who explores colour through his emotions, the book helps children recognise and understand their own feelings through a brightly coloured adventure experienced by the monster and friends. The theme is something Amy related to, “it’s ok to express yourself, it’s ok to be different. Just learning how to deal with certain emotions differently can help you engage with others around you…”.

This was Amy’s first time appearing on Bedtime Stories and she described taking part as “an absolute honour and it was something that was on my bucket list and I can’t quite believe it, I loved it – a dream come true!”

[Bedtime Stories] was something that was on my bucket list and I can’t quite believe it, I loved it – a dream come true!”

Appearing on the programme also stirred fond memories of Amy’s own bedtime stories, “My Dad would read them to us, I love a story, it got my imagination going, helped me fall asleep and have the best dreams. Enid Blyton was one of my favourites.”

Growing up in Caerphilly, Wales, it’s clear that Amy’s family were important for her and her own mental wellbeing, as she explains “for me, my family helps, just chatting with my family, especially my parents - they always reassure me and calm me down. I think it’s just them having your back and always believing in you that helps you believe in yourself.”

Close connections with her family particularly helped Amy cope with the pressures of her career, she continues: “I’d say my family have definitely been my rock to help with the pressures [of dancing].”

As the Strictly star explained when Moodboosters launched in November, “Dancing has such a positive impact on my mental wellbeing. It makes me feel like I’m able to express myself. Moving around just makes me feel happy, upbeat, energised. It’s made me who I am.”

Amy also believes that by nurturing positive and wellbeing at home, such as taking part in activities like Family Moodboosters, is an important tool for maintaining your mental health. She explains: “I think it’s brilliant to understand each other [at home] and that everybody expresses feelings differently.”

When I heard about Moodboosters I thought this is absolutely brilliant”

When she is not on television Amy does a lot of work with children and runs a dance academy for young people in the West Midlands. Her work in this area led her to be interested in the Moodboosters campaign, “When I heard about Moodboosters I thought this is absolutely brilliant, such fun activities. I was like ‘get me on board now!’”. From presenting a number of videos, Amy found that the activities were “a really, really good way of expressing yourself” and will help children “understand their feelings and know that any feeling is ok”.

The Caerphilly dancer also wishes that there’d been initiatives like Moodboosters during her primary school years, “I’ve got a twin sister and a brother and I’m sure it would have helped us at home, as well as my parents. We’re all very different characters, so I think I would have learnt how to deal with my emotions differently.”

Just be you, push boundaries and really let yourself shine!”

Being physically active doesn’t mean you have to be an expert, as Amy advises all you need to do is “just be you, push boundaries and really let yourself shine!”.

Whilst Amy loves to dance, her schedule can be rigorous - especially during rehearsals - and filming for Strictly, so to maintain her mental wellbeing there’s nothing she loves more after a tough day than “just getting in and doing some gentle stretches after dancing. Spending time with my loved ones, going to bed, taking some deep breaths, keeping myself calm and feeling utterly relaxed.”

Watch Amy Dowden reading The Colour Monster on CBeebies Bedtime Stories on CBeebies and BBC iPlayer.

More from Amy Dowden and Moodboosters

Moodboosters are a suite of short, interactive videos that can be used by teachers and parents/carers at home to get active, whilst ing mental health and wellbeing.

Why not try:

• >> Amy Dowden – Emotion in Motion (Boost)

• >> Amy Dowden – Take It Slow (Recharge)

• >> Amy Dowden – Show Time (Imagine)

More from Family Moodboosters

Family Moodboosters are activities to inspire everyone at home to boost their mood and use movement to manage feelings together.

Why not try:

• >> Ade Adepitan – Meditation Station: Feeling Thankful (Family Moodboosters)

• >> Oti Mabuse – Dance Party Megamix (Family Moodboosters)

• >> Dr Ranj – Wacky Workout (Family Moodboosters)

Further information

To access more mental health and wellbeing related videos and activities go to bbc.co.uk/moodboosters.

For more information about mental health and wellbeing, check out the dedicated area on the NHS website.

BBC Action Line has details of organisations that can offer .

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. By clicking the link to access the external website you will be redirected to a site controlled by a separate organisation. Please note that the BBC is not the data controller of the personal data you enter into the external website and it is not responsible for the services provided by any external organisation. When using an external website, you are subject to their and Conditions and .

This article was written in February 2023.

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