Karen Carney: Strictly Come Dancing has restored my confidence
Strictly Come Dancing finalist Karen Carney will be "forever grateful" to the show for rebuilding her confidence.
Karen Carney credits Strictly Come Dancing for "fixing" her confidence.
The former England footballer has reached Saturday's (20.12.25) final of the BBC Latin and Ballroom competition with her professional partner Carlos Gu and is "forever grateful" to the programme for giving her more self-belief.
Speaking at a press conference before the final, Karen said: "I joined the show as a massive fan. And I think I've badgered everyone enough about how much I love the show.
"I think probably the last five or six years, I've been open and honest about how I've been crushed quite a lot in terms of my confidence, and I couldn’t figure out how to fix that."
The 38-year-old star added: "I always knew in my heart Strictly would be the thing I think that would fix me, I don't know why, I just thought it would be... because every Saturday I'd watched it at home, and I'd just watch it and I'd forget about everything else, and I'd fall in love with everybody and just enjoy their journeys and forget about everything.
"And I thought if I'd ever got the opportunity and have the privilege to join it, I felt like it'd be safe environment to fix me and help me again, and it absolutely has.
"It's rebuilt my confidence... it's by far the happiest I've ever been.
"I've smiled like I've never smiled before, and I'm forever grateful to the show and to Carlos for that."
The former Lioness – who has worked as a pundit for TNT Sports and ITV since retiring from football in 2019 – believes that her Peaky Blinders-inspired Argentine tango during Strictly's Halloween week was "a turning point" for her time on the show.
Karen, who hails from Birmingham, said: "You can try and find and get confidence from everyone in the show and from Carlos, but actually you've got to dig deep and find it within yourself.
"I remember going in, I was like, 'You've got to do this', and also I felt with the Peaky Blinders number, it was about Birmingham for me. And I was like, 'You cannot let your city down.'"
