Karen Carney: ‘I won Strictly – it took me 6 months to recover’

I don’t remember winning Strictly Come Dancing last year.

The finale was a blur. Someone even pulled me aside at one point that night, and said: ‘Make sure you don’t forget this moment’ – but it was all so overwhelming and I was running on pure adrenaline.

I truly never thought I’d make it past Week One or Two. But, of course, I was wrong.

Getting the call for Strictly was surreal. It was a very quick turnaround – a matter of days before I’d need to be in rehearsals – so I didn’t have time to feel nervous. I had to give an answer, and fast.

I asked myself: ‘How would you feel if you turned it down?’. I knew I’d regret it for the rest of my life. So I gave a resounding ‘yes’.

The training was full-on and intense. In fact, I was pushed, physically and mentally, more than I’d ever been pushed in my life.

My professional dance partner, Carlos Gu, and I trained for eight hours a day, Monday to Thursday. We’d start at 8:00am, dance until our lunch break, and dance again all afternoon.

Then we might have filming to do, or an appearance on It Takes Two. On Fridays, we’d go to the studio and do our run-throughs.

Saturday was the live show, when we’d be dancing and prepping right up until the point where we were live onstage.

Because I was a professional footballer, everyone assumed I must be really fit. But I wasn’t, really – I’d been retired for six or seven years – and even if I had been a Lioness at the time, my body was used to football. I’ve played it all my life; I’d trained, professionally, for a long time.

Dancing was a whole different ballgame. 

I’d need to learn that week’s routine by the Tuesday of each week, if I was to feel really comfortable with it – then on Wednesday and Thursday, we’d run it (and run it and run it and run it) until we were happy.

But every dance was different and brought another physical push. The Rumba, for example, doesn’t look like a hard dance – but it made me feel like I’d lifted 100kg, every day. The tango and the waltz both challenged my back, arms and upper body. The jive was a full-body workout.

I’ve never experienced anything like it – but I was well aware how lucky I was to be there. I saw the experience as a joy and a privilege; I knew it was a gift that had been given to me, and I wanted to grab it with both hands and see how long it would last.

Plus, I had Carlos to help me. He was wonderful, and he focused hard on the fundamentals, to help me learn the technique particularly for rumba and cha cha.

He got me to do walking laps of the room, holding this roll of toilet paper out front of me so I wouldn’t move my upper body, all the while moving the lower half of my body. He’d film me walking so we could discuss my technique afterwards.

I was all for it. In fact, I dived in and gave it everything I had. I knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to say the least.

During the show I didn’t do anything football related, I literally fully committed to dancing. Everyone I work with was hugely supportive and told me to go and enjoy it. I’m forever indebted to them for that – I don’t know how I would have done anything outside Strictly.

I was constantly learning new things about myself. I’ve always worn the same style of football boots, but having so many different shoes on my feet – like high heels – really bothered me. I was very sensitive to the feel of certain costumes and having hair move in my face. I never knew I’d be so affected by that sort of sensory overload. 

The whole experience was exhausting and exposing, but wonderful too – and, since I can’t really remember the final, my highlight was probably the semi-final.

We had to do two very difficult dances, the waltz and the salsa, so there was a huge sense of achievement and also a massive relief that we’d actually got there. 

Now, it’s time for me to pass on the Glitterball Trophy.

It’s impossible to say who’ll make it to the final this year – Strictly is a marathon. Following last week’s live show, I think the standard is incredible. But there are always shocks, and twists and turns.

I just want to champion everyone doing it – I know how it feels to go on that dancefloor and do what they do, and it’s not easy. In my view, they’re all ‘ones to watch’.

The three new presenters (Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe) are all lovely people and I think we need to give them time to form their own chemistry, individuality, team cohesion and understanding of the show.   

It’s an incredibly difficult job to follow on from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, who were part of the Strictly family for such a long time; and the room for error with live TV is miniscule. People think their job is easier than it is – it’s a really tough gig. But the new presenters all have their own individual specialities that I think, over time, we’ll be able to really see. They’ll make it their own.

These days, I’m sad that I haven’t kept up my dancing. Physically, Strictly really pushed me – I was running on adrenaline all those weeks – and I think I only recovered over the summer. Plus, all the work I should have done while on the show needed to be backdated, and I had to throw myself into all my football commitments.

I would love to go to a dance class at some point, but I don’t want to walk in and for everyone to think, ‘She won Strictly’. Maybe in a few years, once the dust has settled and nobody remembers me!

Happily, though, Carlos and I are very much still in touch – we text all the time. He’s a really good guy, and he’s stuck with me forever now.

I had an incredible experience on Strictly. I learned a lot, grew a lot, met amazing people and made memories I’ll treasure forever.

Now, it’s someone else’s new experience – and I can’t wait to see who will take home the Glitterball Trophy in December.

As told to Izzie Price

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