BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Karen Hauer breaks silence as Paul Merson's two-word admission seen after survival

Karen Hauer has shared a message about surviving the second dance-off of Strictly Come Dancing's 2024 series alongside celebrity dance partner Paul Merson.

The pair were seen back in the ballroom on Saturday night (October 5) as Movie Week arrived on the BBC One dance contest. Former footballer Paul and dancer Karen did the cha cha to The Magnificent Seven theme, scoring them 19 out of a possible 40 points from the judges.

It was then during Sunday night's (October 6) results show that it was revealed Paul and Karen were at risk of elimination after landing in the dreaded bottom two alongside Toyah Wilcox and Neil Jones.

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Singer Toyah and dance partner Neil performed their samba to the song Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid a second time before Paul and Karen repeated their cha cha originally performed as part of the show’s Movie Week special.

Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke all chose to save Paul and Karen, automatically sending Toyah and Neil home, with head judge Shirley Ballas then agreeing she would also have saved the former England international.

Following the results show, Karen took to Instagram with pictures of her and Paul in action during their latest western-inspired appearance in the iconic ballroom and said: "I’m so proud of you Merse! @paulmerseofficial."

She added: "Thank you all for your lovely comments & support. We will keep working hard and having a laugh as always. Onto week 4 @bbcstrictly." In response, Neil gushed: "I love you two," while fellow Strictly stars Michelle Tsiakkas, Jowita Przystał and Tasha Ghouri all responded with a string of red love hearts.

Meanwhile, Paul had taken to X, formerly known as Twitter, and reshared a video he'd earlier shared from Strictly of his cha cha with Karen and said: "Trying my best." He later added following the results show: "Thank you all for the support!!"