Strictly winner Karen Carney called out by pro over ‘false claim’ she was novice

Strictly’s Karen Carney has been called out by a pro over her “professional training”.

Karen Carney and Carlos Gu have won Strictly Come Dancing (Image: BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing champion Karen Carney has been called out by a former professional dancer following her win on Saturday. James Jordan has challenged the “false narrative” surrounding the ex-footballer, claiming she possessed prior dance training. The Lioness, 38, claimed the Glitterball Trophy in the grand final, defeating West End performer Amber Davies and YouTuber George Clarke.

During the series, Amber faced backlash over her extensive experience from her theatre career, but James, who served as a professional on the show between 2006 and 2013, has highlighted that audiences were given the impression Karen lacked any dance background, which he maintains was inaccurate.

Speaking on Monday’s Good Morning Britain, he explained: “Well, she had danced from the age of three to 16 in street dance, and she also used to compete in it. But the narrative we were led to believe was that she was a non-dancer. I think they were brilliant and I was so happy for Carlos that they won but please don’t think you can be that good and not be a trained dancer.”, reports the Mirror.

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“When she came out, week one, she did the double-spin in the air and landed it. None of us can do that. So I’m just putting it out there that the narrative was that she wasn’t [trained].”

He continued: “I just think there needs to be a level because how can you be a non-dancer on the show competing against someone how is professional, or very, very trained? Strictly is supposed to be about taking someone who is not a dancer and watching them go through the journey.”

James was backing George for the winner’s trophy, a contestant with absolutely no dancing background, and proposed that a fresh system could be implemented to address the problem of professionally trained participants, whilst also creating opportunities for those starting from scratch.

He continued: “Like, George. That’s why I wanted him to win. I’m not saying I’m right because the public are never wrong but I just felt sorry for Amber really because she was getting such a hard time being trolled. She was a fully-trained dancer, but she’s not gonna say no.

“It’s not like I’m saying I wanted Karen to be trolled, but she was also a trained dancer! Maybe there needs to be a handicap system to help the people who aren’t trained dancer, because we don’t wanna watch 15 Ann Widdecombes either, no one wants to see that! But you want them in the show!”