Strictly’s Carlos Gu says he was ‘self-centred’ before meeting Karen Carney: ‘No wonder I didn’t get a partner last year’

Strictly Come Dancing’s Carlos Gu sobbed uncontrollably as he admitted he was a “self-centred” person before he met his celebrity dance partner Karen Carney.

Reflecting on how much Carney – a former Lioness – has influenced him during Saturday night’s final (20 December), Gu said: “She changed my life. She’s the best thing I’ve ever had in 2025. I came to Strictly after competitive live, I was self-centered, I was ‘me me me.’”

“I’ve been lost for years… no wonder I didn’t get a partner last year because I was not grateful,” he said, referring to the fact that he was not paired with a celebrity on the 2024 programme.

Host Claudia Winkleman was shocked by the admission and disagreed as she said: “No, no!”

He interrupted her, saying: “I need to finish….[Karen] taught me how to be a kind humble person, and for the first time, I learnt how to be a team player. I never used to be a team player, which I am so sad about.”

Winkleman reassured him: “You’ve always been a team player, and we love you!”

Moments later, Carney and Gu were crowned champions of Strictly 2025, after they closed the show with an electric football-themed jive to “One Way or Another” by Blondie, which received a perfect score of 40.

The footballer was speechless when the result was announced, saying: “I cannot believe it. I want to say thank you to everybody who has supported my journey.”

open image in gallery

Turning to Gu, she said: “Thank you to this wonderful gentleman, we are a team. I could not have done this without you.”

Carney is the first female footballer to compete on the programme, and the first footballer to make it to the final. She lifted the glitterball trophy wearing a sparkly football shirt and matching hot pants.

open image in gallery

Emotions were high during the 2025 grand final, in which Winkleman and her presenting partner Tess Daly delivered their last final after working on the programme for over two decades.

open image in gallery

The presenters jointly announced in autumn that they were leaving the programme because it “feels like the right time”. Their last episode will be the pre-recorded Christmas special on 25 December.

Daly has presented since the first series 21 years ago. Winkleman joined in 2014, having hosted Strictly's sister show It Takes Two since 2004.

Since the announcement was made, speculation has been rife as to who could step into the hosts’ shoes.

Rumoured names to replace them include Zoe Ball, Alison Hammond, Paddy McGuinness, Rylan Clark, Stacey Dooley, Janette Manrara and Fleur East.

On Friday, Daly’s husband Vernon Kay paid tribute to his wife on his BBC Radio 2 show, saying: “It’s Tess’s last Strictly on Saturday and I can't say too much because I’m going to get really emotional, but it’s been an amazing 21 years.

“She has been at the helm of that show with Bruce [Forsyth, who died in 2017 after co-hosting between 2004 to 2013] and with Claudia and it's been nothing but raucous fun. It’s been the favourite show of the nation for so long since it started and it’s seen our two kids arrive through the show as well.