Former Lioness and now broadcaster Karen Carney made an incredible start to her Strictly Come Dancing campaign on Saturday evening – becoming the first footballer to top the judges’ leaderboard in 18 years, and the first female footballer ever to do it.
And the world of women’s football was cheering her on.
Carney wrote on Instagram on Sunday morning: “Bit lost for words if I’m completely honest. Last night was more than I ever dreamed it could be. The whole show and cast were incredible and I’m just so proud of everyone because we all worked so hard.”
And she was flooded with support, with Jill Scott commenting: “Watched it back so many times! Wow!” and Laura Bassett calling Carney and partner Carlos Gu a “dream team”.
Karen Carney: I’m really emotional!
The pair were the final couple to perform in the season-opening show, and danced a jive to Blondie’s ‘One Way or Another’ – but in inevitable Strictly style, the choreography and staging were both football-themed, with their sequinned outfits in the style of shirt, shorts and socks.
And Carney’s performance wowed the judges, gaining her a total of 31 points to put her at the top of the table.
Shirley Ballas described it as the “best dance of the night”, with Craig Revel-Horwood admitting: “I was not expecting any of that, my darling!”
Anton du Beke added: “Sometimes I don’t watch the celebrities, I end up watching the pros when they’re [the celebrity is] this good, and you can tell how good it’s going because the pros are going, ‘This is great! Thank God they gave her to me!'”
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Carney, for her part, seemed rather lost for words, thanking the audience with the words: “Great crowd!”
She then told co-host Claudia Winkleman: “It’s been an honour, honestly, I’m really emotional.
“It’s nervewracking waiting [to dance], I’m really hungry!”
Carney has 144 England caps, and represented clubs including Birmingham City, Arsenal and Chelsea as well as Chicago Red Stars in the USA. She also played for Team GB in the London 2012 Olympic Games.
She has an OBE and also headed up the governmental review into women’s football, giving it her name.
The other Strictly footballers
The last footballer to top a judges’ leaderboard was John Barnes, in 2007, who was the eighth contestant to be eliminated – finishing in seventh place overall with partner Nicole Cutler.
Carney’s former England team-mate Alex Scott was the first female footballer to compete in the show, and finished fifth in the 2019 edition of Strictly, dancing with Neil Jones.
