Strictly Come Dancing's Karen Carney says show is 'rebuilding' her confidence after online abuse
Poor Karen!Strictly Come Dancing favourite Karen Carney has quietly become the celeb everyone’s keeping an eye on this series. Teamed up with Carlos Gu, the former footballer has been powering through the ballroom with impressive focus and a real competitive streak.
She may have narrowly missed that perfect 40 in Blackpool, but her fiery paso doble still sent their odds soaring. In fact, Karen and Carlos now sit just behind front-runners George Clarke and Alexis Warr, with bookies placing them at 7/4.
But getting to this stage hasn’t been the smooth, glitter-dusted ride it might look like on screen. Karen’s rise as a football pundit is remarkable in itself – yet it’s also come with a fair few challenges along the way…
‘That crushed my confidence’
As a female football pundit, Karen has been on the receiving end of extreme online abuse. Back in 2020, after a post wished “cancer, leukaemia and rape” on her, the FA appealed for police and TV companies to take action.
Things reached a new level back in December 2020. Karen’s comments on Leeds United led to a flood of sexist and abusive posts. Consequently, she deleted her X account, but it’s clear the comments stayed with her.
“That crushed my confidence,” she told The Guardian. “It floored me as a human, completely floored me. I’ve never got over it. I’m more emotional about that than what I dealt with in America. I’ve not dealt with this.”
She added that the barrage of abuse made it feel like “the whole world was caving in on me. I’ve never experienced anything like it”.
Strictly star Karen Carney’s heartbreaking Caroline Flack comment
Back in 2021, Karen spoke to BT Sport about just how devastating that wave of online abuse became – and her account is stark. She revealed it left her feeling suicidal, admitting the backlash hit her so hard she felt physically sick.
“I came off air and got in the car and remember saying to the guy who drives us home: ‘It’s kicking off,’ and I felt physically sick,” she recalled. “It was relentless. I can’t even describe it. People that know me know this is the job we do and choose to do it, but I’m low-key, a simple girl who loves football. I don’t want to be bombarded on social media platforms. It wasn’t for one hour, it was for three or four days and now it still comes up, people still send me abuse.”
Karen also drew a heartbreaking comparison to Caroline Flack, explaining that the intensity of the trolling pushed her into some very dark thoughts. “The only way I could make them understand was to say: ‘Do you want another Caroline Flack on your hands?’ Because that night that’s how I felt, and in that moment I could understand why she did what she did, because I could have gone to that place,” she said.
It’s a reminder of the pressure that comes with being a high-profile woman in sport – and just how brutal social media can be.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, contact The Samaritans on 116 123. They are available for free at any time.
Strictly helped ‘rebuild’ Karen’s confidence
Karen has admitted that Strictly has restored confidence she lacked.
The former Lioness said she will be “forever grateful” for the show, stating that “it is rebuilding me”.
Following last weekend’s jive, Karen admitted she was “overwhelmed”, explaining she was “blown away by so much positivity”.
What happened to the star and how did she lose her confidence?
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