Karen Carney took to the Strictly Come Dancing dancefloor once again this weekend
Prince William is an avid Aston Villa fan(Image: Chris Jackson, Getty Images)
Former England Women’s footballer Karen Carney took to the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor once more this weekend, following her stunning debut in the first episode of the new series.
The former Lioness left both judges and viewers gobsmacked as she racked up an impressive 31 out of 40 for her jive with professional dance partner Carlos Gu. This score catapulted her to the top of the leaderboard on the BBC show – the first footballer to do so since John Barnes in 2007 – and positioned her as an early favourite to bag the much-coveted glitterball trophy. But it wasn’t quite as positive on Saturday night scoring 20 out of 40 for the jive to Dua Lipa’s Training Season.
Despite it being known that Carney had dance training as a child before switching her focus to football, her dancing skills took many fans aback as she demonstrated another talent.
At 38 years old, she is England’s third most capped women’s player ever, having made 144 appearances for the national team over a 14-year international career from 2005 to 2019. Playing as a winger and midfielder, she also ranks among the Lionesses’ all-time top goal scorers, having scored 33 times.
Starting her career with Birmingham City, she went on to play for Arsenal, Chelsea and Chicago Red Stars. While she won two FA Cups with Birmingham and Chelsea, it was at Arsenal where she enjoyed the bulk of her success, adding three Premier League National Division titles, three additional FA Cups, a Premier League Cup, and a UEFA Cup to her impressive trophy haul, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Carney has subsequently established herself as a highly regarded commentator across both women’s and men’s football, forging a thriving broadcasting career with major networks including TNT Sports, Sky Sports, ITV, and Amazon Prime.
Prince William meets Carney (left) and England teammates Ellen White and Steph Houghton in 2015
Following her MBE recognition in the 2017 New Year Honours, she received further acknowledgement for her contributions to football when awarded an OBE in last year’s Birthday Honours. Her journey to Windsor Castle for the investiture proved particularly memorable as Prince William presented her with the honour – notably, he’s a devoted Aston Villa supporter, making him a fierce rival of her former club Birmingham.
Upon encountering the prince, Carney confessed she “gave some banter” to the future monarch regarding their club rivalry, though he responded with good humour, revealing his genuine passion as a “massive” football enthusiast.
“It’s been in the diary for some time and then only as I walked up and got into the room I got a little bit emotional and then it became quite real,” she reflected following her OBE ceremony.
“The one common language that we can all speak is football, so had a good football chat with [Prince William] which was cool and had a really good time.
“I don’t want to be disrespectful to any of the others, but I’ve met Prince William before when I played for England, met him various times. To receive my OBE from him was special. He’s a massive football fan so we just chatted about football really.
“Everyone knows I’m a massive Birmingham City fan, and obviously Prince William is a Villa fan,” she added, noting that she received her award on the same day as the Villans faced European giants Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
“There’s a big Villa game tonight, which he’s going to. So I did my dad proud and said look I’m gonna give you some banter about the Villa and make sure you know I’m a Blues fan, which I’ve told him many times before. He’s a massive football fan, Lionesses and men’s football as well – it was great to chat with him.”