Karen Carney makes it through to Blackpool!

At the weekend, Karen Carney sailed through week eight of the competition to make it to the iconic Blackpool Tower Ballroom! 

This week, Karen and Carlos danced an American smooth and this week they were working on “slow[ing] down” and Karen’s posture which is a self confessed “work in progress for [Karen].” In the training room this week, the couple had a visit from Karen’s former teammate and two-time Euros winner Beth Mead who told Karen that she thinks “it’s incredible and [she] doesn’t know how [Karen’s] doing it”. She commented that she’s “looked up to Kaz for a long time” and that she loves “supporting her”. Karen confessed that “Beth is someone [she] absolutely thinks the world of” and having her visit will have surely given her a boost going into the weekend. 

After their dance, Anton said that he was going to “talk about [Karen] as a dancer rather than this dance specifically” going on to see that he wants to see “the next thing” from Karen which is more “lyrical and soft” movements in her dancing. Craig agreed, saying that the fact that Karen dances everything “at supersonic speed” actually “made this dance a little bit spiky”, but he also said that he adores “this partnership” and he thinks that Karen is “fantastic”. Motsi commented on Karen’s authenticity and said that “the performance was so strong” in this dance. Shirley complimented Karen’s posture, saying that it has “come along so beautifully”, and that she actually did see “some flow with the arms” saying that “overall [...] [she] saw so many improvements” in Karen’s dancing. We also saw in the audience that former Lionesses and Team GB teammates Leah Williamson and Kim Little were cheering her on from the side. 

When talking to Claudia, Carlos was tearful saying that Karen “worked so hard this week” and “you have no idea how hard she’s been working this week” which prompted Karen to say that she wants “to do well for him”. She also commented that “he’s been patient with [her]” in training.

For the judges' scores, Craig awarded the pair a seven and the rest of the judges each gave them an eight. This gave them a total of 31 points and meant that they were 5th on the leaderboard. 

Karen and Carlos made it through thanks to the audience votes, meaning that they will be able to dance in the iconic Tower Ballroom next weekend. Sadly it was broadcaster Vicky Pattinson and her partner Kai Widdrington that were eliminated from the competition this week after they faced off against Eastenders star Balvinder Sopal in the dance off. 

Tune in to BBC One next week to see Karen and the rest of the remaining celebrities perform in Blackpool!