Carlos Gu
Chinese dancer and choreographer (born 1993)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carlos Gu (Chinese: 古堃玄; pinyin: Gǔ Kūnxuán; born 1993) is a Chinese dancer and choreographer. He is best known for being a professional dancer on the British BBC One television series Strictly Come Dancing since 2022.[1][2][3][4]
Carlos Gu | |
|---|---|
古堃玄 | |
| Born | 1993 (age 32–33) |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Strictly Come Dancing |
Life and career
Gu was born in Taiyuan China on 6 January 1993.[5][2][6] He has competed in numerous competitions and is a Chinese National Champion.[2] Along with his professional partner Susan Sun, he has competed in dance championships in China and around the world.[7][8][9][10]
Strictly Come Dancing
In July 2022, it was announced that Gu would become a professional dancer on the 20th series of Strictly Come Dancing, as part of four new professionals joining the show along with Vito Coppola, Lauren Oakley and Michelle Tsiakkas.[11][12] Ahead of joining the show, Gu said "I'm thrilled to join Strictly and very excited to get started. It's a new chapter of my life and a new challenge as well. I'm absolutely ready to take on this journey and to shine."[2][9][13][14][15] He was paired with singer and actress Molly Rainford for his first series and they reached the final, before finishing as the runners-up.[16][17][18] Gu later embarked on the Strictly Come Dancing Live! tour.[19] Gu returned for the 21st series and was paired with television presenter Angela Scanlon; they were eliminated in week 10.[20][21][22][23] Gu returned for 23rd series where he was paired with former footballer Karen Carney and won his first series, becoming the first Chinese professional dancer to win
| Series | Partner | Place | Average score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Molly Rainford | 2nd | 35.4 |
| 21 | Angela Scanlon | 6th | 30.5 |
| 23 | Karen Carney | 1st | 33.9 |
| Dance | Partner | Highest | Partner | Lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Smooth | Molly Rainford | 36 | Angela Scanlon | 28 |
| Argentine tango | Karen Carney | 40 | Molly Rainford | 33 |
| Cha-cha-cha | Molly Rainford | 35 | Karen Carney | 25 |
| Charleston | 38 | Angela Scanlon Karen Carney |
35 | |
| Couple's choice | Karen Carney | 40 | Molly Rainford | 30 |
| Foxtrot | Molly Rainford | 35 | ||
| Instant Dance | Karen Carney | 1 | ||
| Jive | 40 | Angela Scanlon | 29 | |
| Paso doble | Molly Rainford Karen Carney |
39 | 33 | |
| Quickstep | Molly Rainford | Karen Carney | 27 | |
| Rumba | 28 | |||
| Salsa | Karen Carney | |||
| Samba | 34 | Angela Scanlon | 27 | |
| Showdance | Molly Rainford Karen Carney |
37 | ||
| Tango | Molly Rainford | 35 | Karen Carney | 20 |
| Viennese waltz | Angela Scanlon | 28 | ||
| Waltz | Karen Carney | 39 | Angela Scanlon | 33 |
Series 20: with Molly Rainford
| Week | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horwood | Mabuse | Ballas | Du Beke | ||||
| 1 | Samba / "Kiss My (Uh-Oh)" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 | No elimination |
| 2 | Quickstep / "Love On Top" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 34 | Safe |
| 3 | Waltz / "One Hand, One Heart" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 34 | Safe |
| 4 | Cha-Cha-Cha / "Do What I Do" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 35 | Safe |
| 5 | Couple's Choice / "Chicken Man" | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 30 | Bottom two |
| 6 | Argentine Tango / "Running Up That Hill" | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 33 | Safe |
| 7 | Foxtrot / "You Make Me Happy" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 35 | Bottom two |
| 8 | Rumba / "All the Man That I Need" | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 37 | Safe |
| 9 | Jive / "Bandstand Boogie" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 35 | Bottom two |
| 10 | Tango / "Bad Guy" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 35 | Safe |
| 11 | Charleston / "Hot Honey Rag" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 38 | Bottom two |
| 12 | American Smooth / "Easy on Me" | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 36 | Safe |
| Paso Doble / "Survivor" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | ||
| 13 | Quickstep / "Love On Top" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | Runners-up |
| Showdance / "Kiss" & "1999" | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 37 | ||
| Rumba / "All the Man That I Need" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | ||
- Green number indicates when Molly & Carlos were at the top of the leaderboard.
- Red number indicates when Molly & Carlos were at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Series 21: with Angela Scanlon
| Week | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horwood | Mabuse | Ballas | Du Beke | ||||
| 1 | Tango / "Prisoner" | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 23 | No elimination |
| 2 | Jive / "Trouble" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 29 | Safe |
| 3 | Charleston / "Who's Got the Pain" | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 35 | Safe |
| 4 | Viennese waltz / "You Are the Reason" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 | Safe |
| 5 | American Smooth / "Cherish" | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 28 | Safe |
| 6 | Paso Doble / "BLACK swan SWAN lake" | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 33 | Safe |
| 7 | Samba / "Ain't It Funny" | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Safe |
| 8 | Waltz / "With You I'm Born Again" | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 33 | Safe |
| 9 | Argentine Tango / "Back to Black" | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 38 | Safe |
| 10 | Cha-cha-cha / "I Will Survive" | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 31 | Eliminated |
- Green number indicates when Angela & Carlos were at the top of the leaderboard.
- Red number indicates when Angela & Carlos were at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Series 23: with Karen Carney
| Week | Dance/Song | Judges' score | Total | Result | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horwood | Mabuse | Ballas | Du Beke | ||||
| 1 | Jive / "One Way or Another" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 | No elimination |
| 2 | Tango / "Training Season" | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 20 | Safe |
| 3 | Cha-cha-cha / "She's A Lady" | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 25 | Safe |
| 4 | Quickstep / "Marvelous Party" | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Safe |
| 5 | Rumba / "Think Twice" | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 | Safe |
| 6 | Argentine Tango / "Red Right Hand" | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 38 | Safe |
| 7 | Charleston / "Upside Down" | 8 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 35 | Safe |
| 8 | American Smooth / "You Don't Own Me" | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 31 | Safe |
| 9 | Paso doble / "O Fortuna" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | No elimination |
| 10 | Couple's Choice / "Born This Way" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40[24] | Safe |
| 11 | Samba / "The Rhythm of Life" | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 34 | Safe |
| 12 | Waltz / "One Moment in Time" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | Safe |
| Salsa / "Turn the Beat Around" | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 39 | ||
| 13 | Argentine Tango / "Red Right Hand" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 | Winners |
| Showdance / "Inner Smile" | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 37 | ||
| Jive / "One Way or Another" | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 40 | ||
- Green number indicates when Karen & Carlos were at the top of the leaderboard.
- Red number indicates when Karen & Carlos were at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Dance tours
In spring 2025, Gu toured with fellow Strictly professional Amy Dowden.[25][26] In November 2025, Gu announced his appearance at Dancing With The Stars Weekends 2026.[27]
Personal life
Gu is gay[25][26] and in July 2024 he spoke with Lorraine Kelly on her eponymous ITV show, to come out and to talk about LGBTQ rights in China, saying that homosexuality is not discussed in public there and that that was part of his rationale for moving to the UK, but that his mother was very supportive.[25][26] A year later, speaking to Hello!, he said that he grew up "different from the stereotype of the boys" and came out so that he could be a role model for "more Asian kids, or the kids out there who are still figuring themselves out".[28] He also talked about a culture of homophobia in dance in China,[28] but that he had been able to look up to his own teacher, a gay 9-time world champion, as a positive role model as a teenager.[28]
In 2025, Gu shared his first artwork, titled Reborn, telling Hello! how he had enjoyed drawing and painting, but had been forced to focus on dance as a child.[28] He told Hello! that he started drawing again in 2024 and spent 2 months on Reborn as a meditative piece.[28]