BBC Strictly Come Dancing’s Karen Carney ‘struggled to breathe’ in off-camera moment

Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Carney made an emotional admission on Thursday

Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Carney “struggled to breathe” in an off-camera moment.

The ex-Lioness and her professional dance partner Carlos appeared on Strictly spin-off show, It Takes Two, on Thursday (20 November), where they had a chat with host Janette Manrara before heading off to the iconic Tower Ballroom.

During their conversation, the duo took some time to reflect on their American Smooth performance from the previous week, which earned them a respectable 31 points from the judging panel.

Carlos confessed that he was moved by the judges’ positive feedback, stating: “Being a partner, being a professional partner, and seeing your celebrity practice so hard every single week. It’s inspiring,” reports Wales Online.

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“Particularly this week and the ballroom, like I said, is not her strength, and she worked so hard. She came into the training room and said, ‘I really want to try and make it myself and improve, and let the judges see that I’m improving just a little.’

“And she did absolutely amazing, and they saw it! I was so emotional. All the hard work pays off, and I couldn’t be more proud to be there with her and to witness those magical moments.”

Karen chimed in: “I got emotional because Carlos got emotional. He was right, we put in loads of work, and to just try and be in that position was really, really challenging for me.”

Carlos then added: “Sometimes she couldn’t even breathe. I had to say, ‘Karen, remember, you can breathe.'”

Karen continued: “Seeing you [Carlos] like that, [it] got me because we are a team, we are a partnership and we work really hard at that and we’re together.

“If he’s happy, I’m happy. If he’s emotional, I’m emotional. We mirror [each other]. But seeing him care about me so much, which you do, just meant a lot and I think everyone else could see that too. So, thanks.”

An emotional Janette concluded: “Aw, it was a lovely moment for the two of you.”

This weekend, Karen and Carlos will be taking to the legendary Tower Ballroom with a Paso Doble to O Fortuna by Carmina Burana. Can they secure their place in week ten? Only time will tell.

Strictly Come Dancing is available to stream on BBC iPlayer