Former Lionesses midfielder Karen Carney has made history by becoming the first footballer in 18 years to top the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard. The 38-year-old and her professional partner, Carlos Gu, scored 31 for their jive to Blondie’s One Way Or Another during Saturday’s opening live show of the 2025 series. Judge Anton Du Beke praised the performance, noting that the professionals’ reactions reflected how well the dance had been executed. Carney expressed delight at the show, saying: “Everyone did a great job. Honestly, it’s been an amazing show, hasn’t it?”
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Elsewhere, Olympian Harry Aikines-Aryeetey was moved to tears following his cha cha to Salt-N-Pepa’s Push It with Karen Hauer, scoring 19. He described the experience as a dream come true after recovering from an injury last year, adding that he finally felt “100%” himself again. Du Beke even replicated a push-up from the routine with Aikines-Aryeetey, prompting laughter from the audience. Amber Davies, who replaced Dani Dyer-Bowen due to an ankle injury, and Nikita Kuzmin scored 27 for their waltz to Adele’s When We Were Young, with judge Motsi Mabuse praising the atmosphere of the performance.
Other performances saw mixed results. Former Apprentice star Thomas Skinner and Amy Dowden scored 16 for their paso doble, while Chris Robshaw and Nadiya Bychkova opened the show with a samba scoring just 14. Ellie Goldstein, the first contestant with Down’s syndrome on the main series, impressed with a cha cha to Ariana Grande’s Yes, And?, scoring 17. Stefan Dennis and Dianne Buswell received 22 for their foxtrot to the Neighbours theme tune, while social media star George Clarke scored 24 with Alexis Warr.
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The night featured a variety of strong performances from celebrities across sports, acting, and reality TV. Lewis Cope and Katya Jones scored 28 for their jive, while Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Lauren Oakley scored 27 for their quickstep. Balvinder Sopal, Alex Kingston, La Voix, and Vicky Pattison also impressed the judges. There will be no results show on Sunday, with all scores carrying over to next Saturday’s episode at 6.20pm on BBC One.
