Karen Carney is through to the final of Strictly Come Dancing next weekend.
She topped the leaderboard on Saturday night with 78 points across two dances with professional partner Carlos Gu – and on Sunday the results show confirmed that the former Lioness will be competing for the glitterball trophy.
Ahead of the performances, Carney reflected on the possibility that she might be eliminated at the semi-final stage, saying: “It was always about having the best time, so I can’t complain, I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it.”
Karen Carney had led the leaderboard in week one with her jive, but had been in the chasing pack since then.
But she added: “Football has taught me to not regret anything.”
Carney has shown “anything is possible”
And their first dance, a waltz to Whitney Houston’s One Moment In Time, got 39 points, with tens from every judge apart from Craig Revel-Horwood.
Judge Anton du Beke said afterwards: “I got a bit emotional. I never thought you would be capable of doing that. I never thought for a second you could dance like that. I know what you can do – you can do crash, bang, wallop. I never thought you could do that quality, that softness, that sensitivity. You came into this competition with a certain aptitude with a style of dancing, and we saw that in week 1 with your jive, and you’ve carried those qualities through into other dances.”
He went on: “This is your journey – being able to produce this quality of dancing. My heart skips a beat when I see this. This is beautiful and I love you for this.”
Judge Motsi Mabuse declared: “You have faced your challenges with such courage and shown that anything is possible.”
Karen Carney: Her “grit and determination”
Their second dance of the evening was a salsa to Gloria Estefan’s Turn The Beat Around, which also got 39 points, with the same scores coming from the same judges.
Head judge Shirley Ballas said: “You’ve got grit, determination, you’ve got out there and thought, ‘I’m giving everything I’m capable of.’
“I’m sure you were the same on the football pitch…’You’re getting 1,000% of me’ – and that’s what we got.”
Carney’s partner Carlos Gu had extensive praise for her afterwards, concluding: “She is a team player and I’ve learned so much from her.”
