Strictly's Karen Hauer addresses show future after reaching milestone
Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer has opened up about her future on the show following a new career milestone.
Karen is currently the longest-serving professional dancer on the hit BBC One show, having joined Strictly back in 2012. In June, the BBC announced the Strictly 2024 professional line-up with Karen confirmed to be returning for another year.
In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy promoting her and Gorka Márquez's new live tour Speakeasy, Karen addressed whether she has any plans to leave Strictly.
"No, I'm literally there till, you know, until they kick me out," she said with a laugh. "They'll have to peel me off the dance floor."
"I think that, why not continue for as long as you can, for as long as your body can allow you to," she continued. "Just because you know, you're in your 40s. I mean, I'm 42. But it's one of the things that I'm like, I'm not going to stop just because of my age."
Karen said it would probably take "some kind of crazy injury" to stop her from dancing and doing Strictly, but even then she would be reluctant to stop.
Fellow pro dancer Gorka agreed with his co-star about staying on Strictly for as long as possible.
"A lot of people ask all the time are you gonna leave?" he told Digital Spy. "And I'm like, why are we gonna leave the best job in the world?"
"We get to do what we love as a job and also bring joy, entertainment and happiness to thousands of people," he continued. "Without Strictly we wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be doing our own show. So many people, they get inspired by us and look up to us to try to be a dancer, so why would we leave?"
Reflecting on returning for what will be her 12th year on the show, Karen said that it never feels old.
"It's crazy," she said. "It still feels fresh, it just feels like I just started. But now when I look back on the pictures and the videos and stuff, I think, 'Wow, I've done a lot'.
Laughing, she added: "Sometimes people come up to us and are like, 'Oh, I grew up watching you', and I'm like, 'Oh my god, I'm old'. But literally it's a privilege, and I feel really grateful."
Strictly fans have the chance to see fan-favourites Karen and Gorka on stage next year in their new live tour Speakeasy, which kicks off in February 2025.
The dancing duo will be performing at venues across the UK including Blackpool, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff and many more.
The tour will culminate in a performance at a West End theatre for one-night only, with details to be shared at a later date.
Tickets for Speakeasy can be bought via SEE Tickets.
Strictly Come Dancing will return later this year on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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