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Karen Carney has opened up about the health struggle she’s faced behind the scenes of Strictly(Image: PA)

When Karen Carney steps out on the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor, she’s battling more than most to stay in the competition. That’s because the former Lioness doesn’t just have to learn the routine, pray for decent scores from the judges and hope fans at home back her.

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Karen also has to overcome a spinal deformity which means many moves she has to learn don’t come easy at all. The 38-year-old has Scheuermann’s disease that has left her with a curved spine.

She’s not let it hold her back on the dance floor, determined to have as much fun as possible. So it came as no surprise that when judge Motsi Mabuse told her to “challenge” her disability, her comments were met by a fierce backlash from fans.

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Karen Carney has opened up about her struggles behind-the-scenes(Image: Getty Images)

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Karen Carney dancing with Carlos Gu on Strictly Come Dancing(Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

In an exclusive chat with the Mirror ahead of tonight’s Halloween special, Karen shrugs off the restraints of her condition. “I’ve always remained that I’m happy, I’m healthy, and it’s never stopped me from doing what I want to do,” she says.

“I just want to show that I might not be the perfect dancer. I will not have the perfect posture, but I’ll certainly give it my best. Dancing is always about joy; it’s how much fun you have and how much joy you can bring to the audience.

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“I think if you can achieve that, that’s the whole point.” Opening up about her condition, Karen adds: “I’ve had it for years and I coped with it in football. I adapted and found a way.

“So it’s a challenge for me to adapt and find ways in something that’s very unfamiliar to me in the dancing world. But I think we’ve had some really good advice and really good support to try and make that easier for me and we work on it.

“My back is very stiff, mobility-wise it’s very restrictive and I’ll be open and honest about that. But it doesn’t mean I won’t try and work on things, it doesn’t mean I won’t try and help improve my mobility and Carlos has been very, very, very supportive, emotionally as well, to try and help me.”

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For someone more at home getting stuck in on a football pitch, embracing the glitz and glamour of the BBC dance show has pushed her well and truly outside of her comfort zone. In just six weeks, Karen, who’s paired with professional Carlos Gu, has stunned fans with her moves and even topped the leader board with her sensational jive in week one.

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Karen Carney on the football pitch(Image: Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

But despite her professional career, which saw her make over 140 appearances for England and play for clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal, Karen says becoming a dance has changed the way she looks at herself. She explains: “I’m learning more about myself than I have in five or six years, from literally being on this show and understanding certain things about me.

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“I need to keep working on my confidence and I’m actually a really sensitive soul. I think being in football, I have had to be strong. I have had to put on and be this person because it’s a quite hard industry, you have to be strong.

“But actually, I’m quite a sensitive soul, and I probably lack a little bit of confidence.” Her lack of confidence might be a shock to some given her successful football career that led to her being awarded an OBE in 2017.

But she’s admitted that her career shift to punditry in 2021 when she joined Sky Sports, moving to ITV sports the following year, hasn’t been plain sailing. She’s suffered a barrage of abuse from some football fans who still balk at the idea of a female commentating on the game.

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“I guess from being a Lioness, my confidence has been knocked in the industry that I’ve stepped into,” she admits. “I’ve got really amazing people and my teammates around me are very good, very supportive, but it’s just taken a few knocks to get me to a point of where I feel happy and “I’m still finding that place.

“But on this show, I’m smiling, I’m beaming, I’m happy, and I’m starting to remember who I am, and that’s really important to me.” But that’s doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel the nerves when she has to step out on the dance floor every Saturday might.

“Oh, I’m bricking it!” she laughs. “There’s no question about it. It’s tens of millions of people watching and I’ve got to go out and try and be sexy.

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“But I’ve got Carlos next to me, and if you don’t give it, I think it looks a little bit worse. You just have to give it and go for it and not take yourself too seriously.

“I say to Carlos, I think I’m giving it, and then I watch it back and I’m like, ‘oh, my God, I’m really not giving it’. And he goes, you’ve got to go another level. So I’m like, ‘okay, today I’ve got to try another level’, and probably tomorrow I’ve got to go another level again, but we’ll get there.”

Growing up Karen knew from a young age that football was her life and she was just 11 when she joined Birmingham City Ladies team before making her first-team debut for Birmingham City just three years later. She describes herself as a tomboy and admits growing up in a sporting lifestyle meant she was often labelled as “butch”.

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Now she’s trying to embrace her sexy side on Strictly but admits she’s more “Peaky Blinders” than any of the ladies in their posh frocks on Downton Abbey.

She says: “I think for me, playing football, I’ve certainly been labelled all of my life in certain ways that isn’t actually quite nice and obviously is not great for your confidence. Luckily, Carlos is excellent at trying to bring that sexiness out in me. I’m safe with him, he is so lovely but we are so different.

“His sexy is very flamboyant, mine is scoring a goal! We were laughing the other day, he watches Downton Abbey and he speaks like that, I watch Peaky Blinders!”

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In fact, Cillian Murphy’s hit historical crime drama is the Birmingham born babe’s favourite series ever. So it’s no wonder she’s thrilled to be taking on a Peaky Blinders themed dance tonight.

Fans will see her perform an Argentine Tango to the show’s theme tune, Nick Cave’s Red Right Hand. It’s going to be a big test for the former footballer because the routine is set to be her sexiest yet.

“I’m massively out of my comfort zone,” she admits. “I don’t look comfortable, I don’t feel comfortable, but don’t take yourself too seriously and I’ll give it my best shot.

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“The reason why I signed up for Strictly was my confidence has been knocked over the last five or six years for different reasons and the way for me to, I felt, was to really rip the band aid off.

“I thought the best way to do it was to join my favourite show and to challenge myself in the way that I have. I’m a footballer. I am a bit of a tomboy. I still hope that I’m still classy in how I dress out.

“But it’s still not comfortable or natural and I think there’ll be many women that might feel how I feel, and that’s okay. For me, it’s a dream to be on this show. So I don’t know where it will end up, but I just want to be in it because I love every day here, and I love being part of it.