Strictly's Karen Carney shares grim reality of life as a pundit - 'They bombarded me with abuse'

Former England star Karen Carneyis set to take to the dance flooras a contestant on this year's Strictly Come Dancing. The 38-year-old has become something of a national treasure following her stellar playing career with Chelsea, Arsenal, Birmingham City and the Lionesses.

She still ranks as England's third most-capped player in history with 144 international appearances. But even she couldn’t escape the sickening abuse that often comes with social media - something that pushed her to her darkest moments, despite being backed by peers such as Gary Lineker.

The TNT Sports pundit admitted she even contemplated ending her own life following a barrage of vile messages on X. It began when Carney discussed Leeds United while working for Amazon Prime during the club's 5-0 triumph over West Brom in December 2020.

The former winger expressed concerns that Leeds might secure promotion "because of Covid" and how the long break in the middle of 2020, caused by the pandemic, gave the Whites "a bit of respite".

Footage of Carney making those comments was then tweeted by Leeds’ official account on X, along with emojis and the caption: "Promoted because of Covid. Won the league by 10 points."

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Reflecting on the aftermath of that tweet, Carney told BT Sport in May 2021: "I came off air and got in the car and remember saying to the guy who drives us home, ‘It’s kicking off,’ and I felt physically sick. I was sat the whole night, until three or four in the morning, in this daze. It was horrible.

"I got a lot of stick for coming off of it [X]. Then you’ve got people around you saying stand up to it, banter back and have a bit of fun with it. The bottom line was to look after my mental health first. That was my priority.”

She went on to add: "It was relentless. I can’t even describe it. People that know me know this is the job we do and choose to do it, but I’m low-key, a simple girl who loves football. I don’t want to be bombarded on social media platforms. It wasn’t for one hour, it was for three or four days and now it still comes up, people still send me abuse.

“Recently I’ve been on a lot of government calls with the social media platforms – but they don’t understand. The people in charge of social media say, ‘We’re doing this, doing that,’ but they don’t understand, I’m just a number.”

Carney also mentioned the late Love Island presenter Caroline Flack, who suffered from online abuse and took her own life at the age of 40 in February 2020. She explained that the scale of the abuse also forced her to consider ending her life.

She said: "The only way I could make them understand was to say, ‘Do you want another Caroline Flack on your hands?’ Because that night that’s how I felt, and in that moment I could understand why she did what she did, because I could have gone to that place.

"It’s definitely changed me, the impact it’s had on me. I’ve seen it with other pundits, I’m not just speaking about myself. About four years ago I got online abuse when I was playing, death and rape threats, leukaemia and things like that. When it happened at Christmas it was another trigger and I don’t think my mental health has been the same since.

As for a solution to the widespread issue that is online abuse, Carney said: "I wouldn’t mind seeing people who’ve been abused going to work for those platforms. The best way is to keep putting the message out there to stop those messages at source.

"Just be nice to people and if you don’t like what we’re saying, just turn over. Don’t listen. There’s no need to go on and abuse someone. We’ve probably more power to do this today than sit on a government call. If we can stop people at home from doing it, that’s the quickest and easiest way."

Leeds responded by condemning the abuse but did not delete the tweet. Carney, who competed in four World Cups, four European Championships and the 2012 London Olympics before retiring in 2019, was awarded an MBE in 2017 and an OBE in 2024 for her contributions to football.

Speaking ahead of performing on Strictly, she said: "I’m such a huge fan of the show and I can’t believe I’m finally getting the chance to take part. I’m so excited to meet everyone and get dancing!"

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