{"id":190256,"date":"2025-12-13T19:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T19:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/190256\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T19:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T19:59:07","slug":"strictly-come-dancing-live-karen-carney-and-carlos-gu-burst-into-tears-in-emotional-semi-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/190256\/","title":{"rendered":"Strictly Come Dancing live: Karen Carney and Carlos Gu burst into tears in emotional semi-final"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>George pulls of an ‘Inbetweeners’-inspired Charleston<\/p>\n

George’s second dance is a Charleston (my fave) to “We Speak No Americano” by Yolanda Be Cool. <\/p>\n

George teased in his VT that it\u2019s inspired by The Inbetweeners, which has to be a Strictly first. <\/p>\n

This is a style that really does suit George\u2019s silly and goofy side. And the lifts are *incredible*. Everyone is really bringing their A-game tonight, eh? <\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:55<\/p>\n

<\/a>Karen praised for ‘magical performance’ <\/p>\n

Here are the judges\u2019 comments for Karen… <\/p>\n

Motsi: \u201cI wish I could jump and join you. It feels like the final and it feels like you\u2019re saying, \u2018I\u2019m not going home\u2019. All those spins here! You were fabulous, fabulous, fabulous!\u201d <\/p>\n

Shirley: \u201cYou have to ask yourself what makes a magical performance. You\u2019ve got grit, you\u2019ve got determination. I loved it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Anton: \u201cYou have laid it all out there, you have not saved anything for the potential final. You\u2019ve said, \u2018This is it, I\u2019m going to treat it like the final\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

Craig: \u201cFor me, it was a little bit skippy. There was also a little hiatus getting up from the floor spin. Also, you do tend to dance ahead but it was clean, it was crisp, it was flashy, darling.\u201d <\/p>\n

Karen\u2019s scores are in… 9, 10, 10, and another 10 – a total of 39. <\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:50<\/p>\n

<\/a>Karen gives it her all in the salsa<\/p>\n

Karen’s finishing on a nerve-wracking dance out of the way first – a salsa to “Turn the Beat Around” by Vicki Sue Robinson. <\/p>\n

One of the former England player’s huge strengths in this competition has been the fact she throws herself into everything with so much energy and she\u2019s doing exactly that with this. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure the judges will have something to say about her hips but her effort levels can\u2019t be knocked. <\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:45<\/p>\n

<\/a>Nikita makes emotional plea to viewers<\/p>\n

Each of the remaining pros is being asked why their partner deserves to win and Nikita has given an emotional answer. <\/p>\n

He told Amber: \u201cYou had so much hate from the moment you joined. You\u2019ve had so much hate this week, but you come into the training room every day and you give so much love. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re so kind, you\u2019re so caring. You\u2019re such a lovely, positive person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing viewers, he continued: \u201cI think sometimes, and I speak to the audience at home, please, please be kind because it costs nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:43<\/p>\n

<\/a>Amber lands another 40 after Couple’s Choice<\/p>\n

Motsi and Shirley are on their feet! Amber is on the verge of tears too. <\/p>\n

Here are the judges\u2019 comments… <\/p>\n

Craig: \u201cHollywood all the way. Glam. Gorg. All that jazz, darling. Unbelievable. You\u2019re just ah-may-zing.\u201d <\/p>\n

Motsi: \u201cWe have to appreciate every single thing you did on that dance. This dance was phenomenal, out of this world.\u201d <\/p>\n

Shirley: \u201cWe\u2019ve seen you work really, really hard. Even if you have a dance here and there, it\u2019s nothing like ballroom and Latin. It\u2019s absolutely beautiful in every way.\u201d <\/p>\n

Anton: \u201cYou remind me of an actress in White Christmas. You were spectacular. I thought last week was good but I even prefer this one.\u201d <\/p>\n

Amber\u2019s scores are in… it\u2019s four 10s, another 40 in the bag! <\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:40<\/p>\n

<\/a>Amber performs her Couple’s Choice<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had such high hopes for this too – Amber and Nikita are performing their Couple’s Choice. <\/p>\n

This couldn’t have come at a better time for Amber, who last weekend managed the incredibly rare feat of landing a 40 *and* ending up in the dance-off. <\/p>\n

In her VT, Amber and her family are reflecting on her time in the spotlight so far, with her mum saying she \u201clost her way with what her dream was\u201d after she left Love Island. <\/p>\n

Set to \u201cFly Me to the Moon\u201d, this routine is as action-packed as you\u2019d expect and a total joy. The lifts are ambitious and being pulled off effortlessly. Bravo! <\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:36<\/p>\n

<\/a>Watch: Julian bursts into tears over special surprise<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been an emotional episode! Karen and Carlos aren\u2019t the only ones who have shed a tear… <\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:31<\/p>\n

<\/a>Craig spots a slip-up in Balvinder’s waltz<\/p>\n

Here are the judges\u2019 comments for Balvinder… <\/p>\n

Shirley: \u201cIt was lovely and I\u2019m really happy that your mum gets to see you, Jules. Balvinder, you set the most beautiful mood, it was really stunning. Very sincere in everything you did. Lovely sense of line. Thank you for that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Anton: \u201cI completely agree. There\u2019s a naturalness about the way you dance. Your timing and your general feel of the dance is of the highest quality and I enjoy it enormously.\u201d <\/p>\n

Craig: \u201cIt lacked a little bit of finesse and I thought the footwork needed to be fine-tuned. Getting up from the floor was disheveled. What I love is the chemistry you both have. You have now formed a solid partnership, so congratulations.\u201d <\/p>\n

Motsi: \u201cI\u2019m impressed with your spine. Because there was a slip on the skirt, the way you used your body to get up was impressive. This was so beautiful and detailed. Well done.\u201d <\/p>\n

Balvinder\u2019s scores are in… 8, 9, 9 and 9 – a total of 35. <\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:30<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Balvinder and Julian are dancing a waltz to “At This Moment” by Michael Bubl\u00e9. <\/p>\n

They’ll surely have been feeling good about this as they landed 35 – their highest score yet – for their Viennese Waltz just last week. FYI, the difference between the two is that the Viennese is faster and involves a lot more spins. <\/p>\n

This is great, but it\u2019s not on the same level as Karen\u2019s, which was so emotional that I\u2019m pretty much still crying. A solid routine, though. <\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:25<\/p>\n

<\/a>George leaves the panel speechless with his samba<\/p>\n

George\u2019s comments from the judges are… <\/p>\n

Craig: \u201cYou certainly let loose, darling. And I\u2019ve never seen tighter trousers to be honest, I was losing all sense of focus. There were a few problems within the dance. What it lacked in technique, it made up for in entertainment. Congratulations.\u201d <\/p>\n

Motsi: \u201cIt was just perfect in the entertainment sense and somebody told you, \u2018whatever goes wrong, shake those hips\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

Shirley: \u201cMy one tiny negative is the posture got too out of line. But you did some rolls we\u2019ve not seen on the show, that was spectacular. Your hips were going ten to the dozen. You really embraced the full samba. This choreography was not easy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Anton: \u201cI hardly recognise you, that was tremendous. You had a lovely twinkly bottom action. It was magnificent to behold, just like you in that outfit. Great job.\u201d <\/p>\n

George\u2019s scores are in… 8, 9, 9 and 9 – a total of 35. <\/p>\n

Rachel McGrath13 December 2025 19:19<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"George pulls of an ‘Inbetweeners’-inspired Charleston George’s second dance is a Charleston (my fave) to “We Speak No…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-190256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}