Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Carney and her dance partner Carlos Gu took to the dancefloor with an American Smooth with a twist this evening.
Hayley Anderson TV Reporter
20:13, 15 Nov 2025
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Strictly Come Dancing stars were left in tears after receiving unexpected praise for their performance on Saturday night’s show.
BBC hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman returned alongside the judges and remaining celebrities, all hoping to secure their place in next week’s highly anticipated Blackpool special on November 22.
Former footballer and sports journalist Karen Carney, partnered with Carlos Gu, delivered a dramatic American Smooth to You Don’t Own Me by SayGrace.
Following their routine, the judges heaped praise on the duo for their “gorgeous” performance, with head judge Shirley Ballas highlighting something particularly meaningful to Karen.
Shirley remarked: “Well Karen what I appreciate, I watched your VT, and in that VT I saw you sort of trying to get your posture and from week one to now, your posture has come along so beautifully.
Strictly Come Dancing’s Karen Carney and Carlos Gu performed an American Smooth to SayGrace’s You Don’t Own Me. (Image: BBC)READ MORE: BBC Strictly Come Dancing’s Tess Daly opens live show with ‘very important’ updateREAD MORE: Strictly Come Dancing fans freak out when they realise who’s in audience
“I just want to commend that because I see your hard work.”
Karen lives with Scheuermann’s disease, a medical condition that affects the spine’s curvature, so when the pair spoke to Claudia afterwards, both Karen and Carlos became visibly emotional.
Carlos shared: “She [Karen] worked so hard this week. I know the ballroom is not her strength but she came into the training room and she said ‘Carlos, I really want to try, I know my back has problems but I really want to try and really want to show that I’m improving just a little bit’.
“And just hearing them saying that, you have no idea how hard she’s been working this week.”
Strictly Come Dancing stars break down in tears after emotional routine(Image: BBC)
He then added as Carlos was comforted by Claudia: “I’m sorry. She wouldn’t stop dancing! Practice, practice. Sorry.”
When asked how she was feeling, Karen tearfully replied: “I want to do well for him and he’s been patient with me, he’s protected me and he’s given me the guidance so I’m just happy for that.”
Karen and Carlos scored 31 points for their American Smooth but is it going to be enough to take them all the way to Blackpool next week?
Strictly Come Dancing continues every Saturday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
