Strictly's Amy Dowden reunites with judge Shirley Ballas and winning pro Carlos Gu after both dancers missed out on the show's tour

Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden reunited with judge Shirley Ballas for a charity event on Wednesday, as the show prepares to kick off its nationwide tour.

The dancer, 35, appeared in a beaming snap alongside Shirley and fellow Strictly pro last Carlos Gu after attending the UK Open Dance Festival.

Shirley shared the snap alongside the two pros on Instagram, writing: '@gkx_carlos; @amy_dowden; @ukopeinternational. Love seeing these two wonderful people.'

Amy looked nothing short of sensational at the event, showcasing her toned figure in a velvet royal blue gown with a plunging strapless neckline. 

Neither she nor close pal Carlos are taking part in this year's Strictly tour, despite the latter winning the last series with his celebrity partner, footballer Karen Carney, last month. 

Fans attending the Strictly tour will be treated to a selection of standout routines from last year's series, including La Voix and Aljaž Škorjanec's paso doble and salsa.

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Karen Hauer will perform the cha-cha and salsa, while George Clarke and Alexis Warr will dance the Charleston and Viennese waltz.

Lewis Cope and Katya Jones will perform their Couple's Choice and Charleston, while Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Lauren Oakley will take to the floor with a quickstep and cha-cha.

Ellie Goldstein and Vito Coppola will perform a salsa and their Couple's Choice, while Kai and Vicky will dance their Couple's Choice and tango.

Meanwhile, Layton Williams, 31, and Nikita Kuzmin, 28, will reunite once again with an Argentine tango and their show dance as the Strictly live tour heads across the UK.

Amy's stint on the latest season came to an early end, when her celebrity partner Thomas Skinner became the first star to be eliminated. 

The Apprentice star had already been deemed a controversial signing on the flagship BBC show due to his outspoken Right-wing views, but the storm only grew when he confessed to cheating on his wife Sinead just weeks after they tied the knot. 

However, despite his growing unpopularity with the public, Thomas went on to accuse the BBC of 'rigging the public vote' to eliminate him first following his affair scandal.

Last month, he shared a lengthy rant on X, where he wrote: 'On the night I left the show, I received an anonymous email claiming to be from a BBC exec with stats, saying I’d received far more votes than it appeared and it wasn’t right. I’ve since had the email independently verified.'

It was later reported an independent poll showed the star received just 1.4% of the public vote, despite his claims he received an anonymous email of evidence proving otherwise.

The exit poll of 125K viewers was conducted by website Strictly Spoiler and is completely separate from the BBC main vote. The poll showed 'clear evidence of his unpopularity' after he received just 1805 votes, the lowest of all the contestants. 

Amy previously shared her disappointment that Thomas had failed to attend the Strictly finale in the wake of the controversy.

Speaking on Lorraine last month, she said: 'So the last time I spoke to him was on Thursday. He didn't mention it. Sent me some messages.'

She then went on to explain that she recently lost someone that meant her 'mind was elsewhere' and that she would've 'loved' to have had Thomas by her side.

Amy continued: 'I was really upset on Thursday and still am. I lost somebody who was like a second dad to me - my dance teacher.

'He passed away on his wife's birthday. Phillip Perry. I owe my entire dancing career and everything to him. He was more than a dance teacher to me and my twin and my family. So my mind was elsewhere. 

'To be honest, I was just gutted Thomas missed out on what was an incredibly fun, exciting final.  I would have loved for him to be there.'

It comes after a since deleted statement, as reported by The Mirror, by Thomas said he 'really regretted' appearing in this year's Strictly.

The reality star said he was 'not perfect' and had 'made mistakes' but was convinced he was right about the votes being rigged.

While insisting the only positive experience of his stint was meeting pro partner Amy, he also claimed he was still on 'good terms' with the BBC.

Thomas said: 'First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who has followed my journey and supported me along the way. I genuinely appreciate it more than you'll ever know'. 

'I also want to be honest. I know what's likely to come next. I expect people will call me a liar, they'll try to cancel me, say I'm hated, or even claim I didn't get any votes at all. At this point, I don't care anymore. I know what's right, and I know the conversations I've had'.

Thomas, who shares three children with his wife, continued: 'I understand that much of what's happened is my own fault. I know I've made plenty of mistakes in my life and I hold my hands up to that. I'm not perfect and I've never pretended to be.

'But what I can't accept is my family being dragged into this. So I need to take a step back. I never wanted any of this to become public. If I'm being completely honest, I really regret doing Strictly Come Dancing'. 

He went on: 'I wish I'd never done it. The only positive to come from it was making a new friend in Amy, who is a genuinely lovely person. Aside from that, it's brought a huge amount of negative attention, and it has affected me more than I'd like to admit.'

'It was on good terms. I want to be clear: I don't hate the BBC. They gave me my big break when I appeared on The Apprentice six or seven years ago, and I'm grateful for that. I'm not looking for conflict. I just want to get on with my life.

Before adding: 'Tomorrow I'll be back at work, focusing on my family, my children, and my beautiful wife. I'm lucky I have work every day an I'm focusing on that. The amount I've been attacked this year really isn't right.'