EXCLUSIVE: Karen Carney has admitted she has been snowed under with several opportunities thanks to her stint on beloved BBC show Strictly Come Dancing
Lioness Karen Carney is set to miss out on a huge paycheck despite her Strictly success. The Strictly winner, 38, has been inundated with TV offers and endorsements.
But Karen, who won alongside her pro Carlos Gu, said she will turn down big money incentives to spend more time with her family. The former England player exclusively told the Daily Star Sunday: “Strangely, Strictly has made me realise I want to do less afterwards not more.
“It’s made me realise how much I love my friends, family and all the Lionesses. I just really miss them and want to spend more time with the people I love.
“I need to invest more time in my friends and family and I will do that a lot more moving forward.” Karen is the third most capped female England player in history with 144 appearances.
But she’s only just started to truly believe in herself thanks to dancing on the hit BBC show. The player turned pundit said: “Strictly has definitely helped to rewire me.
“It’s been really nice to be the real me and not have a football to hide behind. You have to be resilient in football. I’ve been trained all my life to be tough and show a fighting spirit.
“But it’s not always been easy. All my life from being a little girl I’ve been told I shouldn’t play football, or you can’t play football or you shouldn’t be speaking about it.
“I’ve become very resilient but that is different from becoming confident.” Karen competed in four World Cups, four European Championships and the London 2012 Olympics.
But she signed up to Strictly “to build my confidence”. Karen, who was partnered with Carlos Gu, said: “And all my friends, family and colleagues have seen how much I’ve grown.
“I am just really happy I just can’t stop smiling and that’s down to Carlos. It is the first time in over 30 years I’ve not done football in some way.
“I’ve been my true and authentic self and whether people like it or not that’s me.” Karen’s career as a professional athlete spanned 19 years.
But she admitted struggling physically, saying: “Everyone keeps telling me I played sports, so I should be really fit. But if I was fit I would still be playing football.
“I think dancing is harder. I honestly do.”
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