Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke became emotional on Saturday night.
Sara Baalla Screen Time TV Reporter
19:26, 13 Dec 2025
Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke admitted, “I’m an emotional wreck”, as he fought back tears.
The hit BBC dancing competition returned to screens on Saturday night (December 13), as hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman welcomed the final four couples back to the ballroom for the highly-anticipated semi-final.
Anton and his fellow judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, and Craig Revel Horwood were also ready to critique the performances, ahead of next week’s grand final.
During the show, Karen Carney and Carlos Gu performed a Waltz to One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston, with the pair instantly becoming emotional after the routine.
The judges were also moved by Karen’s journey on the show, with a tearful Anton admitting: “I got a bit emotional, I had to keep my glasses on… I mean this in the nicest possible way, I never thought you’d be capable of doing something like that.
Anton Du Beke became emotional on Saturday(Image: BBC)READ MORE: Strictly fans ‘work out’ Tess and Claudia replacement as huge BBC star quits jobREAD MORE: BBC Strictly pro in tears over emotional reveal hours before semi-final
“I never thought for a second that 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.”
He added: “You came into this competition with a certain aptitude for a style of dancing, we saw that in week one with your Jive. You’ve carried those qualities on into other dances Look at the state of me, I’m an emotional wreck.
“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. Congratulations, that was amazing.”
Shirley added: “I just find it all so overwhelming. Weeks, months, hours you’ve spent, all of you, in the studio to bring your very best. To bring this kind of performance, Karen, is absolutely fantastic.”
The head judge then became tearful, with Motsi offering her support. Shirley added: “I’m getting choked up again… We never thought we’d see that, so thank you to Strictly and thank you to you for showing us what you can do.”
Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu performed a Waltz(Image: BBC)
In the Clauditorium, Carlos also broke down in tears, saying: “I wanted us to do this dance for each other and for the journey that we had. It’s a moment for us, let’s cherish our moment together.”
The pair then scored an impressive 39 points from the judges. This comes after bookmakers’ odds revealed that Karen and Carlos could miss out on lifting the Glitterball Trophy.
Karen, who was the bookies’ favourite to win the show, could be beaten by George Clarke. The YouTuber has been given odds of 5/6 of winning, while Karen is in second place with odds of 11/10.
Balvinder Sopal, who has been the bookies’ favourite to leave for weeks, could now come in third place with odds of 20/1. This also means that Amber Davies, who landed in the dance-off last week, could miss out on making the final, despite consistently topping the leaderboard.
Last weekend, Amber and her partner Nikita Kuzmin defeated Lewis Cope and Katya Jones in the dance-off, with Lewis’s departure being branded one of the “worst exits” in Strictly history.
Strictly Come Dancing is available to stream on BBC iPlayer
