Carlos Gu had viewers in tears with a heart-wrenching confession about his Strictly Come Dancing journey before going on to bag the 2025 glitterball trophy. The professional dancer, 32, got emotional after his final dance with partner Karen Carney, 38, admitting that before this season, he had been "self-centred" and wasn't partnered with anyone the year before.
Breaking down in tears, Carlos said of Karen: "She's changed my life. I think she's the best thing that I've ever had in 2025."
"I came to Strictly after competitive life, I was self-centred, I was 'me, me, me'," he told co-host Claudia Winkleman. Carlos said it was "no wonder I didn't get partner last year, because I'm not grateful".
Carlos, who joined the reality show as a professional dancer in 2022, quickly tried to compose himself as he went on to gush about his dance partner. "She taught me how to be a kind, humble person, and for the first time, I learned to be a team player. I’m never a team player, which I’m so sad about it." Claudia then swooped in to comfort the dancer, assuring that he had "always been a team player" and was "amazing".
Viewers took to social media to react to Carlos' emotional moment on the show, with one person writing on X: "Oh Carlos Gu, you deserve the world". Another said they were "crying at Carlos saying he didn't have a partner last year because he was ungrateful". "That was such an honest speech from Carlos that I'm actually crying," someone else gushed.
Carlos' historic win
Carlos and Karen both made history as the first openly gay and Asian man and the first footballer, respectively, to win the glitterball. Speaking to us and other media at a press conference ahead of the final, we raised the prospect of Carlos making history on the show, prompting the dancer to get emotional.
Speaking for Carlos, Karen answered: "He's obviously emotional about that, but Carlos is an amazing person, and that's the most important thing. As a partner and whatever the outcome is for any of us, first and foremost, we're people, and he's a wonderful person, he's a fantastic dancer."
Karen's 'grateful' for Carlos
The former Lioness player opened up about how her Strictly journey helped to restore her confidence. "I thought if I'd ever got the opportunity to have the privilege to join it, it'd be the safe environment to fix me and help me again, and it absolutely has for me. It's really built my confidence," she said.
She continued: "It's by far the happiest I've ever been, I've smiled like I've never smiled before, and I'm forever grateful to the show and to Carlos for that. When we dance, I feel like I have a responsibility to give everyone a smile, because I know when I was sat on the sofa, it's helped me. I believe I have that responsibility to give that back to everyone at home."
Speaking of his partner, Carlos gushed: "She has a sublime level of courage in her, she never gives up, and she never not gives 100%."