Strictly Come Dancing pro dancer Karen Hauer candidly opens up on her sober milestone as she shares the ‘bravest thing’ she has done in an emotional post on Instagram
Jessica Clarke Digital Reporter
10:45, 01 Jan 2026Updated 10:45, 01 Jan 2026
The star candidly revealed that the ‘bravest thing’ she has done was to ‘stop running from’ herself as she celebrated one year of being alcohol free(Image: Instagram/karenhauer)
Strictly Come Dancing pro dancer Karen Hauer shared an emotional post as she entered 2026 and detailed her journey with sobriety. The star candidly revealed that the ‘bravest thing’ she has done was to ‘stop running from’ herself as she celebrated one year of being alcohol free.
The dancer looked fresh faced as she shared a black and white picture sat on the floor against a wall. She captioned the post: “One year alcohol free.. I faced my raw self for the first time… scared, sad, angry. But also clearer. Pausing. Progressing.”
Karen, who has previously been partnered with Jamie Laing on Strictly, continued: “I hid behind “just having fun” but deep down I was closing my eyes tightly, gritting my teeth, hoping the pain would stop. Turns out the bravest thing I’ve done was stop running from myself.”
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The dancer looked fresh faced as she shared a black and white picture sat on the floor against a wall(Image: Instagram/karenhauer)
She continued: “Now I’m slowly better at reasoning with myself understanding why I feel the way I do and allowing myself to feel it all. Even when my heartbeat races and my mind overthinks. That’s my process of healing and I’m okay with that.”
“Here’s to many more positive days ahead, with love, support and my little family – Simon and my four gorgeous dogs. Take care of yourselves in 2026″.
Karen was flooded with support by friends and fans as one person wrote: “Always proud of you 2026 here we come!”, while another added: “Proud Karen Happy New Year to you all bring on 2026″.
Karen was flooded with support by friends and fans(Image: Karen Hauer Instagram)
It comes as Karen, who is currently dating ex rugby player Simon Davidson, recently broke down on Paul C. Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast after she opened up on her toxic’ marriage to Jordan Wyn-Jones.
Karen said her ex of left her ’emotionally battered’ and that she was in ‘panic mode’. She told the Celebs Go Dating expert: “
“I was just in panic mode, panic mode, love should not be panic. It’s almost like he made up things to scare me so that I wouldn’t go anywhere”, the dancer said.
It comes as Karen, who is currently dating ex rugby player Simon Davidson, recently broke down on Paul C. Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast(Image: INSTAGRAM)
“But it’s OK and I get on with it, I get on with it and smile because I don’t want to cause trouble, I don’t want to shake things up because that puts you in a bad mood which then makes my day really awful, and that’s the state I lived in… I was not only lying to my family and friends and they were seeing it, but I was lying to him as well, because that was the only way I could get through the day, that would keep the peace.”
Karen got emotional as she added that she begun to suffer hair loss caused by autoimmune disease alopecia. She believes it was caused by the stress her body was feeling at the time.
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