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A Strictly Come Dancing professional has opened up about the thoughts he had when he was first paired with his celebrity partner last series.

Carlos Gu, 33, eventually won the coveted Glitterball last year when he teamed up with former footballer Karen Carney, 38.

Speaking on the White Wine Question Time podcast with Kate Thornton Carlos discussed his dramatic comeback after not securing a partner the year before.

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Carlos admitted that when he and Karenwere first partnered up that he wasn’t sure if the partnership was going to work because of how different they appeared to be.

However, he suggested that one key to their eventual success was they both enjoyed the sense of a challenge.

He explained: “The first time we paired up I was like ‘I have no idea how this is going to work and where we’re going to end up, but I’m willing to take an adventure, a challenge’. I think she thought exactly the same.”

Carlos’ comments come after he admitted that during this decade he has undergone a minor transformation, but he also spoke about how important it is to be emotional for him.

Addressing his emotions to the Mirror, he explained why this is how he comes across. He said: “I’m just an emotional person.

“I think we should all be able to express our emotions freely, whether you’re a man or a woman – especially men. Men need to cry more. Also, facing your own lack of confidence, accepting who you are is important.”

Karen has also spoken openly about her health battles since winning Strictly.

As well as living with Scheuermann's disease, a spinal condition that affects one’s posture, Karen has suggested that she and Carlos may both be autistic, something she thinks they discovered through one unusual moment.

She said: “For the salsa, the lighting was too much for both me and Carlos. We're probably on a spectrum - I am - so a lot of lights, not good. So they lowered the lighting system and try and make it a little bit better for us to perform.”

Karen, echoing Carlos, has also said that when they first met, she also wasn’t sure if the pair would work.

Discussing the matter at an event in London, she admitted: “I never thought when I started, he is someone who would turn out to be so special and important to me.

“When we first met we had nothing in common. Nothing… I sat in silence for 10 minutes thinking, ’I don't know what to do here.’…But the more I got to know him, that's not who Carlos is.”