Karen Carney doing Strictly Come Dancing to 'rebuild [her] confidence'
Former footballer-turned pundit Karen Carney says she is doing Strictly Come Dancing to become confident again after she felt "crushed" by the heavy criticism for being a female pundit of men’s football.
Karen Carney signed up for Strictly Come Dancing to "rebuild [her] confidence".
The 38-year-old star felt "crushed" after being heavily criticised for being a female pundit of men’s football, and Karen is hoping the BBC Latin and ballroom dance show will help her get back on her feet again.
Appearing on the latest episode of Woman's Health's Just As Well podcast, Karen - who became a football pundit after retiring from the sport in 2019 - explained to hosts Gemma Atkinson, 40, and Claire Sanderson: "I think I had it quite bad about four years ago, that was very, very challenging.
"But since then, whether you like it or not, you have to build resilience. And I think for me, my attitude - put my athlete hat on - is to be the best version of myself.
"Work as hard as I can, be a great team player, and actually, what we learned in football was never to impress your manager, impress your teammates.
"So for me, if I'm next to someone like a Roy Keane or an Ian Wright, or whoever it might be, if they're happy with me and they know I worked hard, they know I've done my research, they know I've done my prep, then that's all that matters to me … The rest, I can't control what people think about me. I genuinely can't. I've had to just go with that mindset.
"But Jesus Christ, it has knocked my confidence … it’s why I wanted to do Strictly as well to rebuild my confidence again because the negativity has crushed me.”
Karen's Strictly Come Dancing professional dance partner is Carlos Gu, 32, and they topped the week one leaderboard with 31 points after their Jive to One Way or Another by Blondie blew away the judges - Craig Revel Horwood, 60, Motsi Mabuse, 44, Shirley Ballas, 65, and 59 year old Anton Du Beke.
And Karen is "loving" her time on the programme so far.
She said: "[I'm] absolutely loving it. Honestly, I've just got a massive smile on my face.
"It's such an honour and privilege to be on the show. I've watched it for so long and follow it every week. You fall in love with it and yeah, I can't believe I'm actually on it, it’s bizarre."
Speaking of Carlos, Karen added: "He is lovely. We're so different though … my sexy is like scoring a half volley!”
In week two, the duo received 20 points for their Tango to Training Season by Dua Lipa.
As no celebrity was eliminated from the show in week one, the two weeks' scores were combined, resulting in Karen and Carlos being placed sixth on the leaderboard, with 51 points.
And Karen is not putting "too much pressure" on herself to do well.
She said: "Hopefully my fitness comes through. I'm not gonna put myself under too much pressure.
"Like genuinely, I love the show and I'm just so happy to be part of it. And no matter how short or long it is, I just wanna really enjoy it.
"I went to a live show last year, followed it for years and years, and it's just an honour."
The full Women’s Health Just As Well episode is available on major podcast platforms.
