Strictly’s Karen Carney breaks down in tears after her performance as viewers give verdict on her chances of surviving semi-final

Karen Carney broke down in tears after her moving performance during Strictly Come Dancing’s semi-final on Saturday evening.

The former footballer, 38, and her professional partner Carlos Gu, 32, took to the dancefloor and wowed the audience and judges with a waltz to Whitney Houston‘s hit One Moment In Time.

The pair scored an impressive 39 points from judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke, catapulting them to the top of the leaderboard at the beginning of the show.

Following her performance, Karen became overwhelmed with emotion as she joined host Tess Daly on the dancefloor to await the judges’ feedback.

She fought back tears while the panel praised her emotional routine.

Anton said: ‘Look at the state of me, I’m an emotional wreck. Never knew you could dance like that, quality, softness and sensitivity, my heart skips a beat at your journey.’

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Karen Carney broke down in tears after her moving performance during Strictly Come Dancing’s semi-final on Saturday evening

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The former footballer, 38, and her professional partner Carlos Gu, 32, took to the dancefloor and wowed the audience and judges with a waltz to Whitney Houston’s hit One Moment In Timenow

Craig added: ‘Left elbow and head placement issues but it had flow and elegance, very beautiful.’

Motsi said: ‘I couldn’t recognise you, biggest growth in contest, beautiful connection, you’ve showed anything is possible.’

While Shirley added: ‘I’m getting choked up. Your rise and fall was beautiful, just where it needed to be for a semi-final.’

Karen later joined fellow contestants and host Claudia Winkleman backstage as she reflected on her emotional reaction.

Explaining why she was so overwhelmed, she said: ‘It’s because I let loose, I let go, I leaned into him,

She continued: ‘I’ve always done in this competition, I’ve always felt so safe with him, but today I was like just go out there and just enjoy it and lean into him it’s just me and him.

‘When I connect with him there’s no better feeling, he made me emotional, saw him kind of wobbling, and then I was going, and I was like this feels so nice and I wanna thank the costume team because they’ve made me feel beautiful.’

Following the performance, fans flocked to X, formerly Twitter, to share their verdict on Karen’s chances of winning the competition.

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The pair scored an impressive 39 points from judges Craig Revel Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke, catapulting them to the top of the leaderboard at the beginning of the show

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Following their performance, Karen and Carlos became overwhelmed with emotion as they joined host Tess Daly on the dancefloor to await the judges’ feedback

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She fought back tears while the panel praised her emotional routine. Motsi (seen) said: ‘I couldn’t recognise you, biggest growth in contest, beautiful connection, you’ve showed anything is possible’

One wrote: ‘KAREN CARNEY AND CARLOS GU MY 2025 STRICTLY WINNERS YES YES YES.’

‘Karen Carney has won the glitterball with that waltz.’; ‘KAREN CARNEY that was incredible.’

‘Karen Carney has to win this, I love her.’; ‘Oh Karen Carney I think you’ve just secured yourself the win.’

It comes after BBC bosses have reportedly drawn up a ‘Golden Ten’ shortlist of presenters as they search for replacements for Strictly Come Dancing’s long-time hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly.

Claudia, 53, and Tess, 56, will bow out of the glitzy ballroom at the end of this year’s series – but the stars hoping to step into their glittering shoes won’t have it easy.

According to reports, contenders will be put through a series of partner-swap chemistry tests, with BBC executives keen to find the perfect on-screen pairing.

Three names are said to be emerging as frontrunners, including Bradley Walsh, Alex Jones and Alan Carr – with Alan, 49, said to be firmly at the top of the list.

However, all ten shortlisted stars will reportedly work with one another on screen in a bid to decide which partnership works best.

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Karen later joined fellow contestants and host Claudia Winkleman backstage as she reflected on her emotional reaction

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Explaining why she was so overwhelmed, she said: ‘It’s because I let loose, I let go, I leaned into him. I’ve always done in this competition, I’ve always felt so safe with him, but today I was like just go out there and just enjoy it’

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Following the performance, fans flocked to X, formerly Twitter, to share their verdict on Karen’s chances of winning the competition

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A source told The Sun: ‘Replacing Claudia and Tess is a mammoth task but the BBC have whittled down the talent to ten people.

‘As well as Bradley, Alex and Alan, Rylan Clark, Rob Rinder, Zoe Ball, and Holly Willoughby will be at the chemistry day.

‘Amanda Holden, Alison Hammond, and Angela Scanlon have made the cut too.’

The insider added that the stars will be brought into a studio and placed into different pairings to see who has the strongest on-screen connection.

They explained that pairings could consist of two women, two men, or a mixed partnership, as Strictly bosses look to ‘mix things up’ and find a combination that hasn’t been tried before.

Fresh from his win on Celebrity Traitors last month, Alan is believed to be in pole position.

However, his nationwide 2027 comedy tour could clash with that year’s Strictly schedule, potentially throwing a spanner in the works.

Despite this, insiders have reportedly claimed that Alan would be unlikely to turn down the presenting role if he made the final cut following the chemistry tests.