ALL THE OBSTACLES KAREN CARNEY HAS FACED AS SHE BATTLES IT OUT FOR THE STRICTLY GLITTERBALL: ADDICTION, SELF-HARM, INJURIES, AND SURGERY! CQ😱

This weekend, Lioness Karen Carney will battle it out against Love Island’s Amber Davies and TikTok star George Clarke in the hope of winning the inaugural Strictly Glitterball.

It’s a huge achievement for Kaz, who has had to overcome many personal obstacles…

Strictly star Karen Carney on her mental health struggles

Strictly finalist Karen has been open about her mental health struggles and regularly uses her platform to raise awareness.

She recently revealed that while playing in the US for the Chicago Red Stars early on in career, a knee operation that put her out of action plunged her into depression. After she developed an addiction to sleeping pills and self-harming, her manager told her to return to England for her own wellbeing.

“I was in a pretty bad way – and I think that has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to overcome,” she told The Guardian. “I came back purely to … save my life, pretty much.

“People around me dragged me through and I owed it to them to try and fight, and it’s an amazing feeling when you can get through that. It’s hard to talk about it, and I couldn’t have done it without people [around me].”

Speaking to The Times, she added: “I was 22 going into surgery and sorting all the paperwork out. It all went downhill. When football was taken away from me, I had no coping mechanism. Everything crumpled. I was in a dark place. It was cold, windy, I was on crutches and alone. It was horrible. I lost loads of weight, wasn’t eating right.

“The only colour I saw was black. You wouldn’t wish depression on anyone. With an injury you can see it, but no one can see a mental illness.”

Karen Carney on her retirement

After retiring from football in 2019 after a string of injuries, aged just 31, she suffered with a big crisis of confidence.

“I couldn’t figure out how to fix that. For five or six years I felt crushed,” she revealed in an interview with the Mirror.

However, it appears Strictly has done wonders for her. “It’s rebuilt my confidence and this is by far the happiest I’ve ever been,” she said of the show. “I’ve smiled like I never have before, and I’m forever grateful to the show and to Carlos [Gu, her pro partner] for that.”

Dyslexia and ADHD

Karen is dyslexic and has ADHD. However, she appears to view the conditions as a strength rather than a weakness, proudly listing “dyslexic thinking” as one of her skills on her Linkedin page.

As well as that, she sees her ADHD and dyslexia as things that make her unique: “I have no regrets. I see things differently, feel things differently.”

Trolling ordeal

Heartbreakingly, Karen had a difficult time being football-loving young girl in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“I got told I shouldn’t play. I got bullied for it, really,” she told The Guardian.

Even now as an adult, she has spoken candidly about the horrific trolling she has received as a female football pundit.

Back in 2020, after a post wished “cancer, leukaemia and rape” on her, the FA appealed for police and TV companies to take action. That December, she deleted her X account, after her comments on Leeds United led to a further flood of hateful messages.

“That crushed my confidence. It floored me as a human, completely floored me. I’ve never got over it. I’m more emotional about that than what I dealt with in America. I’ve not dealt with this.”

She added that the abuse made her feel “like the whole world was caving in on me. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

Strictly star Karen Carney’s spine condition

While rehearsing for her Week 2 Tango, her first ballroom number, Karen shared that she suffers from a spinal condition called Scheuermann’s, that made achieving the correct frame difficult.

“I have this thing called Scheuermann’s. I’ve had it since I was a kid. It’s a curve in my spine. It’s really, really hard for me to open my back up,” she explained.

“There’s certain elements that I just won’t be able to do as well,” she continued. “Posture doesn’t come easy to me, it’s a real physical challenge. Like, it’s really, really hard. I have the posture aid.”

The full-circle moment

So, with Karen already making history as the first footballer to compete in a Strictly Come Dancing final, could the lift that Glitterball in what would be a full-circle moment for the star?

Bookies have her as favourite, and it would certainly mean a lot to Karen to win it. However, whether she finishes in first, second or third place, the show’s certainly done the trick in terms of rebuilding her confidence.

“I always thought if I could ever get the opportunity to throw myself into what I felt would be a safe environment then I’m taking it. I always knew in my heart Strictly would be that thing. Every Saturday I’d watch it at home and I’d fall in love with the dancers and enjoy their journeys and I’d forget about everything else. I thought if I ever got the privilege to join it would help me and it absolutely has.”

Speaking about the final, she added: “I feel I have a responsibility to give it everything I’ve got because I know when I was sitting on the sofa Strictly helped me. I have to give that feeling back to everyone at home.”