Karen Carney has revealed that her performance during Strictly Come Dancing's Blackpool special took her by surprise after she made mistakes in rehearsals. The show's move up north, which has become an annual tradition, saw week nine of the competition broadcast live from the seaside town's famous Tower Ballroom on Saturday night (November 22).
Before they could perform their latest routines, the six competing couples were told that there would be no elimination after La Voix had to pull out of the BBC One dance contest, having initially been given a bye to the next round after her injury was announced last week. It seems the thought of no dreaded dance-off brought out the best in some. As for Karen and Carlos, they scored a near-perfect 39 for their paso doble to Carmina Burana’s O Fortuna. The dance had the judges on their feet, prompting Craig Revel Horwood to remark: 'Darling, that’s how you score a goal,' before calling the dance 'incredible'.
Now, former footballer Karen has revealed that things weren't initially looking good with her and Carlos' latest routine. Appearing on It Takes Two on Tuesday (November 25), she said: 'I actually made a few mistakes in the rehearsals. So when that happened, I was like, whoa. But it, like Carlos said, when you're in that magical ballroom, like, I did feel like we turned it on. I don't know, it was weird. I've never ever felt like that. But I literally was like, right, we're going to really go for it.'
Of watching their performance back, she continued: 'I looked at it and I was like, is that us? Like, I still watch things and think, oh, we're in that show and that's us. So it's really strange to see it back, but it was unbelievable. I loved every minute of it.' Carlos added: 'I mean, it's everything. It's everything that we have in that moment. Costume, make-up, hair, you know, the actual dancers, the music, the band, the whole production of the dance, but also I think the most important essence is the ballroom. The magic of the ballroom has really landed in that dance. And I believe we both felt the magic of that ballroom and really helped us. That's the best run we've ever done.'
It comes as Karen revealed she will be dancing for her mum on Strictly Come Dancing this weekend. The pair are set to take to the dancefloor for a Couples Choice to Lady Gaga's Born This Way on Saturday (November 29) night. Karen has explained the personal meaning behind their music. Speaking on Strictly: It Takes Two, she said: 'The reason why we actually picked it was the first line, is 'my mama told me when I was young, we are all born superstars'. I told my mum when I was 11 that I was going to play for England. She said to me, there's so many barriers out there, all she said was if you want something, work hard for it and go after it. Carlos absolutely adores his mum, so it's very personal for both of us, for our mums. It's encouraged Carlos to be the amazing dancer he is, and my mum has pushed me to become a footballer. I believe that I was born to play football and he was born to dance.'
