Former Lioness Karen Carney and professional dancer Carlos Gu have won the 23rd series of Strictly Come Dancing.
In the three-person final, Carney competed against Youtube personality George Clarke and his dance partner, newcomer Alexis Warr, and theatre star Amber Davies with her two-time finalist partner Nikita Kuzmin.
Carney and Gu danced their way to victory through a Peaky Blinder’s inspired Argentine Tango, a high energy showdance to Texas’s Inner Smile and their personal pick – their jive to Blondie’s One Way which wowed viewers when they first performed it in just Week 1.
Taking to the BBC Strictly Instagram account, the winners sent a message to the fans who voted, with Carney stating:
“You’ve made our dreams come true. Thank you for bringing so much joy to our lives, and I hope that we brought joy to you.”
Carney has made Strictly history as the first professional footballer to win the series, with competing in the final marking the furthest a football player has ever gone in the competition. But that’s not the only thing that’s special about Strictly Come Dancing 2025.
It was announced earlier in the series that this would be Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman’s final year hosting the programme.
In a joint video posted to their Instagram accounts the iconic duo shared their decision to bow out of the show.
Sat side by side, Tess shared: “After 21 wonderfully joyful years on Strictly, we have decided the time is right to step aside and pass over the baton.”
Claudia continued: “We’re so lucky to have been part of this amazing show and we just want to thank the Strictly team, because Strictly is the people who make it.”
Daly stated in the caption: “We have loved working as a duo and Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time.”
The pair have presented the primetime show together since 2014, breaking records as the first female duo to host a primetime entertainment programme on British TV.
Daly has hosted the show since its first broadcast in 2004 alongside the late Sir Bruce Forsyth, whilst Winkleman began as host of Strictly: It Takes Two, the competition’s weekday companion. In 2010 Winkleman moved across to join Daly in hosting the Sunday night results show, ultimately presenting the main show too in 2014.
Whilst the series finale was the last time the pair presented live, the duo will grace our screens a final time in the pre-recorded Christmas Special, which will air on Christmas Day at 5:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
Words by Kirsty Dow
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