On Saturday night it looks highly likely that professional dancer Carlos Gu will win Strictly Come Dancing with his partner the former footballer Karen Carney.
The 32-year-old, from Taiyuan in China, is currently the bookies’ favourite to win who say he has a 70 per cent chance of victory with pundit Karen, 38.
If he succeeds he will be the first openly gay, and Asian, professional to lift the Glitterball Trophy.
Carlos has come a long way in his career, beginning his dance training in his home country, where he rose to prominence as the Chinese National Latin Champion – before joining the Strictly cast in 2022.
While it all seems picture perfect in his professional life, Carlos previously opened up about the challenges he faced growing up when it came to his personal life.
He said on Lorraine in July: ‘I moved to this country. I had a different life. I am finding my true self in this country. Being a gay in China, it’s really hard to talk about it.
‘You can’t tell a word in telly, public, no word.’
On Saturday night it looks highly likely that professional dancer Carlos Gu will win Strictly Come Dancing with his partner the former footballer Karen Carney
The 32-year-old, from Taiyuan in China, is currently the bookies favourite to win who say he has a 70 per cent chance of victory with pundit Karen, 38
China does not recognise same-sex marriage or civil unions and attitudes towards gay relationships vary from region to region.
Of now living in the UK he said: ‘I feel like I have so much opportunity. I find so much nuance. Growing and nourishing myself to become… It feels like home.’
Due to China’s one-child policy Carlos has no siblings but he did speak about coming out to his mum.
He explained: ‘I think, because I came out to my mum. She’s a single mum who raised me, it’s hard for her.
‘But I’m so lucky to have her, she’s so open. The time when I told her I want to move to UK and I want to get this job on Strictly, she actually supported me 100 per cent because she knew I would be happier there.’
Carlos has many achievements under his belt including finishing third in the prestigious German Open Championship and bagging the title of UK’s Amateur Latin Rising Star Runner Up back in 2017.
When he joined Strictly in 2022 he was paired with EastEnders star Molly Rainford where they finished in second place.
The next year he was with TV and radio presenter Angela Scanlon, where they placed sixth.
Carlos has come a long way in his career, beginning his dance training in his home country, where he rose to prominence as the Chinese National Latin Champion – before joining the Strictly cast in 2022
When he joined Strictly in 2022 he was paired with EastEnders star Molly Rainford where they finished in second place
While it all seems picture perfect in his professional life, in an interview on Lorraine last July, Carlos opened up about the challenges he faced growing up when it came to his personal life
In 2024 he wasn’t given a celebrity partner while this year he was paired with Karen and they have made it to the final.
Karen has odds of 4-9 with bookmaker Coral to win the final of Strictly this weekend, with those odds suggesting she has a 70 per cent chance of lifting the Glitterball Trophy.
George Clarke is second best in the firm’s betting, at 7-4, while Amber Davies is the 50-1 outsider.
‘Karen Carney has improved with every week on the Strictly dance floor, and after making it through to this weekend’s final, our odds suggest she has a 70 per cent chance of lifting the Glitterball Trophy,’ said Coral’s John Hill.
The series, which is due to come to an end on Saturday night has seen the professional dancers and their celebrity partners be whittled down to a final three pairings, with Amber, George and Karen in the running.
Over the weekend, EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal, and her dance partner Julian Caillon became the latest stars to wave goodbye to the competition.
And this week, former footballer Karen, Love Island’s Amber, and social media star George will take to the floor for the last time to impress the judges, and the public at home, before the final score count.
The next year he was with TV and radio presenter Angela Scanlon, where they placed sixth (seen together)
In 2024 he wasn’t given a celebrity partner while this year he was paired with Karen and they have made it to the final
When asked how she felt about getting to the final, Karen said last weekend: ‘I felt like I’d won a competition being cast, let alone coming this far.’
Carlos then revealed that their show dance would be to Texas’ Inner Smile.
After a tricky few years, Karen looks set to get some of the glory she deserves as she’s tipped to win the show.
Karen played as a winger and midfielder during her professional football career – during which she made 144 appearances for England.
However despite her success as a footballer, and later a pundit for the likes of TNT Sports and Sky Sports, Karen experienced some very low points.
Karen has been open about her personal woes during the live shows, opening up about her Scheuermann’s disease and dedicating a dance to her inspiring mother and football career.
Karen’s Strictly stint has proved a success for her fanbase as she’s gained an incredible 71,000 Instagram followers since starring on the show.
During week eight of the competition, Karen touched on her spine condition, Scheuermann’s disease, and how it has affected her dancing.
Following an emotional American Smooth, Carlos Gu said: ‘She worked so hard this week.
‘I know the ballroom is not her strength, but she came into the training room and she said, ‘Carlos, I really want to try hard. I know my back has problems, but I really want to try and I really want to show that I’m improving just a little bit.’
Karen has lived with Scheuermann’s disease, which causes curvature at the top of the spine, since childhood.
In addition, after picking up a knee injury while playing for the Chicago Red Stars, towards the start of her career, Karen sank into depression and began self-harming before becoming addicted to sleeping pills.
‘I was in a pretty bad way. I think that has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to overcome,’ she told The Guardian.
Carlos has previously said: ‘I moved to this country. I had a different life. I am finding my true self in this country. Being a gay in China, it’s really hard to talk about it’
Karen, who retired as a footballer in 2019 and became a pundit, has also received horrific abuse from online trolls – which later led her to having suicidal thoughts.
She was already used to abuse, having had one troll wish ‘cancer, leukaemia and rape’ on her while she was a player, but the attacks leapt up a notch when she was commentating.
In 2020, Karen was bombarded with sexist and abusive messages and eventually deleted her social media. In 2021, she opened up about how the abuse caused her to have suicidal thoughts.
Karen said she hasn’t been able to get over that time in her life, adding: ‘It floored me as a human, completely floored me.’
