‘My football family’ – Karen Carney joined by three Lionesses legends as she survives another week on Strictly Come Dancing

Carney, who played for clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea and Birmingham City in England and represented the Lionesses for 14 years in 144 international matches, is part of the 23rd season of the UK primtime entertainment show contest Strictly Come Dancing. The competition kicked off last month and so far four rounds have taken place. Carney has accumulated 108 points so far and has been successfully voted through each by the public, avoiding the dread dance-off and potential elimination each time.Her quickstep this past weekend scored 27 out of 40 from the four judges.

On Sunday, after the fourth round of the competition, Carney was joined by former Lionesses team-mates, Beth Mead, Lucy Bronze and Rachel Yankey, who came to support the 38-year-old. Carney shared an image with all of the England icons on Instagram and wrote in the caption: "Loved having so many of my football family with me last night. Just knowing my teammates were there was such a massive comfort to me and meant a lot knowing I had their support and encouragement."

In the first live show of the 2025 edition of the popular dancing programme, Carney banished an 18-year curse when she finishing top of the Strictly leaderboard. The former midfielder put an end to stereotypes surrounding footballers and their ability to perform on the dancefloor with a fantastic performance which received widespread praise. The 38-year-old performed with her professional dancing partner Carlos Gu performed to Blondie's classic hit 'One Way or Another' and so good was her performance, the duo earned a score of 31 from the judges and finished at the top of table for the evening.

Before Carney, several footballers have tried and failed to reach the top of the leaderboard over the years, including her former Lionesses teammate Alex Scott. Other footballers who have appeared in the Strictly ballroom include ex-goalkeepers Peter Schmeichel, Peter Shilton and David James, as well as John Barnes, Robbie Savage and Tony Adams. This year, ex-Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank is also competing and and finished third on the leaderboard in the first week. The latest contestant to get eliminated from the competition last week was former England Rugby star Chris Robshaw.