Former Strictly Come Dancing pro Ola Jordan claims the judges had a sneaky trick to make sure Karen Carney won in the ‘pantomime’ finale.

The 43-year-old dancer made the claim in her latest Mecca Bingo column, where Ola backed Karen as a winner – but opened up about how her place in the bottom was a ‘sympathy vote’ orchestrated by the judging panel.

Former England star Karen, 38, made history on Saturday when she became the first footballer ever to lift the Glitterball Trophy after she and professional partner Carlos Gu were crowned champions.

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Karen was at the bottom of the leaderboard in the weeks leading up to her victory, but Ola claims the ‘pantomime’ judges know what they’re doing with the sneaky tactic.

Speaking about the moment, Ola said: ‘In my opinion, that was done purposely because people go, “Oh my God, she’s the only one who got an eight, we’ve got to vote for her.”

‘This is the thing. They know how it works. They know when people are going to pick up the phone and when they’re not. It’s the way it is because she’s the only one who got an eight from the judges on Saturday.’

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Former StrictlyCome Dancing pro Ola Jordan claims the judges had a sneaky trick to make sure Karen Carney won in the ‘pantomime’ finale

Former England star Karen, 38, made history on Saturday when she became the first footballer ever to lift the Glitterball Trophy after she and professional partner Carlos Gu were crowned champions

Ola added: ‘She is a worthy winner because people voted for her.

‘It wasn’t about the judges’ scores; it was only the public vote. At the end of the day, whoever the public wants to win is a worthy winner.

‘What I don’t agree with is when judges’ marking is combined with the public vote, and they don’t put people in the right place on the leaderboard. They get paid to sit there and judge properly.’

When asked her thoughts on the judges, Ola then revealed all – sharing how she thinks they are ‘pantomime’.

‘The judges are a bit pantomime for me,’ she said. ‘I’d like them to go back to being more technical. Nowadays, people are scared to say anything negative.

‘But how are you going to learn or improve if everyone tells you you’re amazing? You should be able to say, “You’re good, but I didn’t like this, you need to work on that.”

‘There’s nothing wrong with saying, “That wasn’t good.” It’s life, not everyone’s going to be great at dancing. I’d be ruthless. There’s no good having me on there.’

Prior to her appearance on Strictly, Karen admitted she’d faced vile trolling for her work as a pundit, having commentated on Premier League matches for TNT Sports as well as the World Cup and Euros for both the men and women’s teams on ITV.

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Ola Jordan and James Jordan arriving for the Strictly Come Dancing 2012 Launch (pictured)

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Karen made history on Saturday when she became the first footballer ever to lift the glitterball trophy after she and professional partner Carlos Gu were crowned champions

And following her historic win, Karen has now revealed that taking part in Strictly has brought back her confidence, and she received ‘positive reinforcement’ for the first time in decades.

Karen told The Telegraph: ‘Entering the pundit space has crushed me over the last five or six years. Imagine, since you’ve been eight years old, being told: ‘You shouldn’t’, ”You can’t”, ”You won’t”. ”Why?”

And when I retired and started punditry: ”You shouldn’t”, ”You can’t”, ”Why?”, ”No”. I didn’t realise the impact of all that. After that jive in the very first week, I got positive reinforcement for what felt like the first time in 30 years. And I just couldn’t cope with it.’

‘People asked me, ”Why have you picked the biggest show in the country if you need to rebuild your confidence?” But I love the show so much, and I always felt this was a safe place for me to go. And in my heart, in my gut, I knew this was the place where I could rebuild again.’

Strictly Come Dancing returns for a festive special on Christmas Day on BBC One and iPlayer.