Helen Skelton praises Strictly co-star for her resilience while 'fighting a silent battle'

express.co.uk:

Helen Skelton was praised throughout her Strictly shows for her "revenge dances" and the spectacular way she seemed to be overcoming her split from rugby star Richie Myler, who left the marital home when their third child was just four months old.

However, now the Countryfile star has shared a message of support for another Strictly warrior - Amy Dowden, who has on occasion been hospitalised during a decades-long battle with Crohn's Disease.32-year-old Amy has suffered the debilitating disease for more than 20 years, after first experiencing agonising pains at age 11.The disease, which can cause intense stomach cramps, diarrhoea and even blood in faeces, has forced her to miss past Strictly shows after being rushed to hospital - and she takes a cocktail of eight steroids per day just in a bid to keep her symptoms under control.Now Helen has given her a supportive shout-out on Instagram, as she urged her 421,000 followers to watch her documentary - Strictly Amy: Crohn's And Me - on BBC iPlayer.Posting a photo of herself and Amy posing alongside other Strictly stars including Tyler West and Fleur East, she wrote: "Some top bananas in this photo but if you get a chance this week to watch @amy_dowden documentary on iPlayer please do."She is one of those warrior women - respect and love to you."Helen continued: "Thanks for your insight and sharing your story.Thanks for being one of those women who keeps getting back up (there’s a few around)."Amy thanked her, while other Strictly stars, including Gorka Marquez, Graziano di Prima, Dianne Buswell and Johannes Radebe, also expressed their sympathies that she'd had to struggle behind the scenes with an "invisible illness".The disease is an auto-immune condition where the immune.