'Constantly in pain' Karen Hauer details gruelling Strictly Come Dancing schedule

Strictly Come Dancing pro Karen Hauer has revealed the gruelling schedule behind the hugely successful BBC One show. She described being “constantly in pain” with not a lot of time to recover between rehearsals and live shows.

Speaking about the “physical demands” of Strictly, Karen explained that people did not always see the demanding nature of the programme.

She made the candid admission during a chat with journalist and endurance athlete Louise Minchin on the Push Your Peak podcast.

Karen said: “You know, one of the things I guess that some people usually do when they watch us dancing, and they’re like, ‘Oh, my God. It’s so beautiful, they look so lovely. You must really love what you do and it looks so easy and enjoyable’.

“And yes, it is all of that, behind the scenes, underneath it all, when the lights go out when you’re in the background when you’re in the rehearsal rooms… it’s one of the toughest things I put my body through, the toughest thing that I put other people’s body’s through, as well.

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“Also you have to drag them, you have to teach them, you have to place them in the position, you had to hold their frame, you have to push them in and out of things.

“So, on our bodies, it’s even tougher. It is intense, the amount of work and the amount of trauma that happened so your muscles. And you have zero time to rest because there is no time to rest.”

Karen was forced to pull out of the Strictly 2021 tour and take a break from rehearsals following a knee injury.

Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on her eponymous chat show, the choreographer said taking time off was “mentally tough”.

source: express.co.uk