Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Carlos Gu sobbed uncontrollably during Saturday night’s programme while expressing pride over his pro partner Karen Carney.
During the show, the pair danced an American Smooth to “You Don’t Own Me” by Saygrace feat G-Eazy, with the judges unanimously praising Carney’s improved posture and flexibility in her back, despite her ongoing issues with her spine.
Gu, who has been training Carney for the past nine weeks, broke down in tears as he spoke of his partner’s hard work.
Speaking to host Claudia Winkleman, Gu said: “She worked so hard this week. I know ballroom is not her strength but she came into the ballroom and said ‘Carlos, I really want to try hard, but I know my back has problems and I really wanna try.’”
“Hearing the judges say that…. You have no idea how hard she’s been working,” he said, breaking down further.
Carney suffers from Scheuermann's disease, a spinal condition that causes a curved spine, making it “really hard” for her to open her posture up in the way she needs to for ballroom dances.
Speaking about her condition on It Takes Two previously, Carney told host Fleur East she had really been struggling to correct her posture.
“It’s a real physical challenge,” she said. “Like, it’s really, really hard. I have a posture aid.”
A posture aid is a harness that straps across the upper back to help train muscles that aren’t positioned correctly by engaging the nervous system.
Gu explained: “Her spine is curved in, so she can’t fully open, not with her shoulder but her spine.”
Carney has played for Chelsea, Arsenal, Birmingham City and the Lionesses and is England’s third most-capped player of all time.
She competed at four World Cups, four European Championships and the 2012 London Olympics before retiring in 2019. She was awarded an MBE in 2017 and OBE in 2024 for services to association football.
You can follow Strictly Come Dancing’s live show here.
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