'I don't work out in heels, so that's going to be a challenge'

During her career as a footballer, Karen Carney was regularly considered – and celebrated – as the most cool, calm and collected player on the pitch.

- MITYA UNDERWOOD

But as she steps into her Strictly Come Dancing glamorous gown and heels, she admits it's pushing her further out of her comfort zone than she's ever been.

“The challenge for me will be trying to show the real version of me, and not getting shy or awkward, or insular,” she tells OK! when we sit down with her a few days before the latest series kicks off.

“A lot of people will have seen me in the football environment, and it’s quite intense. My feeling is that people perceive me in a certain way – that I’m very... serious. But that’s not really accurate!

“I want people to see the warm side of me. The kind, caring team player. I’m actually quite awkward, and nervous. But I’m also really daft and funny, and I probably just want to bring the other version of Karen, not the footballer Karen.

“Everyone I know who’s been on Strictly has told me not to be too hard on myself. If it was football, I'd be absolutely critical of myself, but this isn’t my thing, it’s the pros’ thing – and I’m humbled and privileged to be on the show.”

The fiercely proud Brummie, 38, is one of the most recognisable faces in football punditry, with regular appearances on ITV, Sky Sports and TNT Sports.

Her professional career – which began at her home club of Birmingham City in the early noughties – includes appearances for England, lifting the FA Women's Premier League and FA Women's Cup trophies, a stint in the US, and a place on the 2012 Olympic Great Britain team.

Over those years, she laughs, she’s been a die-hard fan of Strictly, and can proudly claim to have seen almost every episode of the 22 series so far. She also “beg, stole and borrowed” to secure herself a seat in the live studio audience last year, but confesses that she never expected in a million years to be stepping onto the fabled dance floor herself.