Karen Carney has never been short of things to say about football. Since retiring in 2019 with 144 England caps to her name, the former Lioness has become one of the most prominent broadcasting voices in the sport, covering the Women’s Super League, the men’s Premier League, and major international tournaments across Sky Sports, ITV, TNT Sports and Amazon Prime. Her opinions have generated headlines and, on more than one occasion, sparked a national conversation about how women in sports media are treated.
Her personal life is a different matter entirely. She has kept it that way for as long as she has been in public life.
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Is Karen Carney in a Relationship?
As of April 2026, Karen Carney has no confirmed partner. She has never publicly named a romantic partner, never introduced someone as a girlfriend or wife in any interview, and has kept her relationship status entirely off the record throughout her career.
She is unmarried and has no children, though she has mentioned her godson Ronnie warmly in past interviews. Every credible outlet that has covered this question, from Hello! Magazine to Sky Sports to Wikipedia, lands in the same place: her romantic life stays private, by her own choice.
Who Is Liesel Jolly?
The name most consistently linked to Karen Carney’s personal life is Liesel Jolly, and it is worth being precise about what their connection actually involves.
Jolly is Visa’s Women’s Football Lead and senior marketing manager. In January 2021, she and Karen, alongside former Scotland international Kim Little, launched The Second Half, a career development programme backed by Visa designed to help professional women footballers build lives and careers after leaving the sport. Through mentoring, workshops and networking, the programme has since supported over 71 players across the UK, Portugal and Spain.
Karen has spoken about it directly:
“For the women’s game to continue to succeed, creating long-term career paths for players is a must. That’s why partnering with Visa on The Second Half to help athletes recognise their potential off the pitch continues to be a source of pride for me.”
In 2024, Jolly posted on LinkedIn congratulating Karen on chairing the UK Government’s review into women’s football, writing that she is “always inspired by Karen Carney’s ability to take on new challenges outside her comfort zone.”
That is what is verified. Hello! Magazine reported in November 2025 that neither woman has “hinted that their relationship is anything other than professional.” Wikipedia, Visa’s own platform, and SheKicks all describe their connection in the same terms. The dating rumour exists online but has no sourcing and contradicts every credible outlet that has covered it.
What About Carlos Gu?
When Karen won the 23rd series of Strictly Come Dancing in December 2025, becoming the first footballer in the competition’s history to lift the Glitterball Trophy, some attention turned to her relationship with professional partner Carlos Gu. Their closeness on screen was obvious and their bond off it was well documented throughout the series.
There is no suggestion of a romantic relationship between them. What is clear is a genuine friendship that carried well into 2026.
On the night of the final, Carlos told her: “You changed my life.” In the weeks that followed, Karen described him as central to rebuilding the confidence she had spent years trying to recover.
In early 2026, the two followed through on a bet made during week one of the series: matching tattoos. Carlos had a butterfly and hearts inked on his arm. Karen had hers placed on her ribcage.
On 8 February 2026, Karen took Carlos to his first ever football match, Arsenal Women against Manchester City Women at the Emirates Stadium. She posted on TikTok: “Had the honour of taking Carlos to his first ever football match. What a day!”
Their friendship is warm, public, and clearly something both of them value. By every available account, it is also exactly that.
What the Online Abuse Actually Did
Karen Carney’s relationship with public exposure is not straightforward. Two incidents in particular go a long way towards explaining why her private life has stayed as far from view as it has.
October 2018: A Champions League Night at Kingsmeadow
Karen was Chelsea Women’s captain when the club beat Fiorentina 1-0 in the first leg of a Women’s Champions League round of 16 tie. She scored the only goal, a penalty in the eighth minute.
During the match, an Instagram user sent her messages wishing her cancer, leukaemia, rape and death. She shared a screenshot on her story with the words: “Wow, some people.”
England Women’s manager Phil Neville shared the messages publicly and challenged Instagram to act, calling them “absolutely disgraceful.” The FA released a statement saying it was “appalled and dismayed.” Chelsea called the abuse “abhorrent and totally unacceptable” and reported the account, which Instagram removed. Karen released her own statement: “This kind of abuse is abhorrent, totally unacceptable and very upsetting.”
December 2020: The Leeds United Row
Two years later came the incident Karen has described as even more damaging.
During Amazon Prime’s coverage of Leeds United’s 5-0 win over West Brom in December 2020, Karen suggested that Leeds may have benefited from the suspension of the previous season due to Covid. Leeds’ official Twitter account clipped the comment and posted it mockingly to their 664,000 followers. Club owner Andrea Radrizzani publicly called her words “completely unnecessary and disrespectful.”
The post drew over 4,000 replies, many of them sexist and abusive. Rio Ferdinand called for the tweet to be deleted. Women in Football described the post as “inciteful and inappropriate.” Megan Rapinoe publicly called Karen “a national treasure.” Karen deleted her Twitter account. It has never been reactivated.
She later told The Guardian that the experience left her feeling suicidal. In 2025, she described its lasting effect:
“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.”
What Happened in America
That reference takes the story back to 2009, when Karen joined Chicago Red Stars after leaving Arsenal.
A serious knee injury sidelined her not long after she arrived. What followed was the most difficult period she has spoken about publicly. She sank into depression, began self-harming, and became addicted to sleeping pills. Her coach at Chicago, Emma Hayes, recognised how serious the situation had become and urged her to return to the UK.
Karen later told The Guardian:
“I was in a pretty bad way. I think that has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to overcome. I came back purely to save my life. People around me dragged me through and I owed it to them to try and fight.”
She returned to England, recovered, and rejoined Birmingham City in 2011.
Strictly Come Dancing 2025: First Footballer to Win
In August 2025, Karen joined Series 23 of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Carlos Gu. Four months later, she won, becoming the first footballer in the competition’s history to lift the Glitterball Trophy, defeating Amber Davies and George Clarke in the final.
The December 2025 final was also the last live show for hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, who stepped down after more than a decade presenting together.
For Karen, the significance went well beyond the competition itself. She described the show as having helped fix something that years of targeted online abuse had taken apart. Speaking ahead of the final:
“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.”
Carlos Gu, who is openly gay and of Asian heritage, broke down in tears at a press conference when the prospect of making history as the first person from both groups to win the Glitterball as a professional was raised. His co-star Nikita Kuzmin crossed the room to comfort him.
Karen Carney in April 2026
Her 2026 has moved at pace.
In February 2026, Karen became a minority owner of Birmingham City Women following the club’s takeover by Shelby Companies Limited. The club she joined at age 11, made her senior debut for at 14, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of in 2015, she now helps own.
She continues broadcasting across TNT Sports, Sky Sports, ITV and Amazon Prime, covering both the Women’s Super League and the men’s Premier League. She writes for BBC Sport and The Guardian and co-hosts the Long Story Short podcast with former England teammate Jill Scott. Away from broadcasting, she is Adobe’s Ambassador for the Women’s FA Cup 2026, a Global Ambassador for Pepsi, and is sponsored by Nike.
Her government review into the future of women’s football, chaired from 2022 and published in July 2023, had every recommendation backed by the UK Government. She holds an MBE from 2017 and an OBE from 2024, both for services to association football.
Karen Carney’s relationship status remains entirely her own business, and she has made sure it stays that way. Two abuse campaigns, a mental health crisis in America, and years of having her professional credibility questioned in ways male colleagues simply were not, gave her every reason to draw that line firmly. What she has put on the record is a career built under sustained pressure, a public role she has earned rather than inherited, and a version of herself she describes, in April 2026, as the happiest she has ever been. Who Karen Carney’s partner is, if anyone, is a question only she can answer.
