Karen Carney becomes first footballer to top Strictly leaderboard for 18 years

Former Lionesses midfielder Karen Carney has become the first footballer to top the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard for 18 years.

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 first live show of the 2025 series of the BBC dancing programme.

Judge Anton Du Beke said of the performance: “Sometimes I don’t watch the celebrities, I end up watching the pros when they’re this good, and you can tell how good it’s going, because the pros are going ‘this is great’.

“That is the way to end a show with the best dance of the night.”

Speaking after her performance, the former Chelsea and Arsenal star said: “Everyone did a great job. Honestly, it’s been an amazing show, hasn’t it?”

It came after Olympian and Gladiator Harry Aikines-Aryeetey was moved to tears following his cha cha to Salt-N-Pepa’s Push It with professional partner Karen Hauer, which scored 19, which he said he had been dreaming of having suffered an injury last year.

Following the dance, the 37-year-old said: “I’ve dreamed of that moment, this time last year I just wasn’t able to do anything like that, and I never thought I’d be myself again. It just feels so nice to be myself, I had an injury.

“I dreamed of that moment, and even though I did Christmas I wasn’t 100% there and now I’m 100% so I’m thankful.”

After giving his feedback, Du Beke jumped on top of Aikines-Aryeetey as he replicated the push up from the dance with the judge standing on his back, prompting laughter in the audience.

Former Love Island winner Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin scored 27 for their waltz to Adele’s When We Were Young, which judge Motsi Mabuse said she “loved the atmosphere” of, calling the performance “very special”.

Davies replaced fellow former Love Island winner Dani Dyer-Bowen on the show when she was forced to leave after fracturing her ankle in a fall during rehearsals.

At the start of Saturday’s show, Claudia Winkleman, who co-presents the show with Tess Daly, said: “Dani, we will miss you so much, and all of us are sending you all our love.”

Former Apprentice star Thomas Skinner and professional dance partner Amy Dowden, who he described as “the absolute governor”, scored 16 for their paso doble to Battle Without Honour Or Humanity by Hotei.

Judge Craig Revel Horwood said: “It was very square, flat and stompy, and it was more tin soldier than it was matador, I’m afraid. It wasn’t for me at all.”

Dowden screamed with excitement at the end of the performance, while Skinner said he was “over the moon”. The Welsh dancer explained Skinner had spent a lot of the week revising the wrong dance in the tango.

It comes after Skinner said he does not regret joining the show in an interview with the Daily Mail earlier on Saturday.

His comments came despite scrutiny after he admitted in an interview with The Sun to cheating on his wife just weeks after their wedding, having previously apologised for picking up a journalist’s phone and walking out of a press event for the BBC dancing show midway through.

Former England rugby player Chris Robshaw and his professional partner Nadiya Bychkova opened the show with a samba to EMF’s Unbelievable, scoring just 14.

Model Ellie Goldstein, who is the first person with Down’s syndrome to compete on the main series of Strictly, and her partner Vito Coppola performed the cha cha to Yes, And? by Ariana Grande, scoring 17, with head judge Shirley Ballas giving Goldstein a fan after the performance.

Neighbours actor Stefan Dennis and last year’s Strictly champion professional dancer Dianne Buswell, who won with comedian Chris McCausland, scored 22 for their foxtrot to the Neighbours theme tune.

Elsewhere, ITV reporter Ross King and dancer Jowita Przystal scored 10 for their cha cha to Katy Perry’s California Gurls, while social media star George Clarke and professional partner Alexis Warr, who was also making her Strictly debut, scored 24, for their American smooth to Myles Smith’s Stargazing.

EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal and her professional partner Julian Caillon, who was the second new dancer to perform on Saturday, scored 17 for their samba to (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty by KC And The Sunshine Band.

Doctor Who actress Alex Kingston and partner Johannes Radebe scored 21 for their waltz to Julie London’s Cry Me A River, while Drag artist La Voix and their professional partner Aljaz Skorjanec scored 24 for their American smooth to Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan.

Ex-Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope and partner Katya Jones scored 28 for their jive to The Temptations’ Get Ready, while reality TV star Vicky Pattison and her partner Kai Widdrington scored 23 for their cha cha to The Emotions’ Best Of My Love.

Former Chelsea star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and his professional partner Lauren Oakley performed the quickstep to The Fratellis’ Chelsea Dagger dressed in blue and scoring 27.

There will be no results show on Sunday, with all the contestants remaining on the show for next Saturday’s episode, which will air at 6.20pm on BBC One, with the judges’ scores from this week rolling over to next week.