Spoiler warning: This story contains details of the winner(s) of Celebrity Hunted

Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden has said winning Celebrity Hunted has helped her believe she can “achieve anything” following her battle with cancer.

The 36-year-old professional dancer won the latest series of the Channel 4 challenge show alongside Strictly’s Carlos Gu, claiming a joint victory with actor Brian Conley and his daughter, comedian Lucy Conley.

The programme sees celebrities go on the run while an elite team of hunters tries to track them down, in aid of Stand Up To Cancer.

The joint victory marked the first time in the show’s history that two pairs have managed to stay on the run without being caught.

It also marked a reunion for Dowden and Brian Conley, who were paired together on the BBC One dance programme in 2017.

The nail-biting finale saw the two pairs jumping on an extraction plane from a beach in north Wales, narrowly escaping the hunters.

Dowden was just 32 when she was diagnosed with grade three breast cancer in May 2023, after finding a lump in her breast the day before her honeymoon.

She said: “Cancer took a lot away from me in the last two years but I truly feel I’ve got my confidence back and this has given me the belief I can go on to achieve anything.

“We got on to that plane, I was just like, ‘celebrate!’ I grabbed the champagne!”

The Welsh dancer made a return to the ballroom floor in 2025, and has been candid about her experiences of the disease, including having a mastectomy, chemotherapy and fertility treatment.

She was put into an early menopause as a result of the treatment, which she opened up about in her BBC documentary Strictly Amy: Cancer And Me.

Following their victory, Dowden, who also has Crohn’s disease, external, and Gu admitted that none of their fellow Strictly stars thought they would succeed.

Gu said: “It felt great.

“All the hard work we put in those two weeks all of a sudden made it so worth it.

“I think wanting to do this to raise awareness for cancer, I think, inspired us.

“We knew we were doing this not just for us but for everyone going through it who might be watching at home.”

Among the hunters’ team are police and military personnel who have access to CCTV footage, helicopters, drones, dogs, media campaigns and the latest cyber forensic technology.

Brian Conley said winning the series was “amazing”, but wished his eldest daughter Amy and wife Anne-Marie could have also been there to experience it with them.

He said: “We thought we’re just gonna have fun and as long as we get a few days under our belt, that would be OK.

“To win is amazing.”

Lucy Conley said she felt “pure joy and shock” when the pair managed to get on the plane and claim their victory.

She said: “Just before we ran to the plane, we’re in the sand dunes and dad’s like, ‘There’s no way I’ll win. They’ll pick me off, I’m an old man, you’ve got to do this for us’.

“I was so nervous and then I got on that plane, turned around and he was there. That was crazy!

“I’ll never experience any feeling like that. It was just pure joy and shock.

“Nobody who knew we were doing it believed we would win! No-one had any faith in us. Everyone thought we were going to be bad.”