Typing ‘Carlos Gu wife’ into a search bar will not return many answers, but will instead return stacks of speculation. That’s because there isn’t a wife to find. Gu is the Chinese ballroom dancer who won Strictly Come Dancing in December 2025 alongside former England footballer Karen Carney. He’s openly gay, and no spouse or partner of his has been named in the reputable coverage I could find. The searches still continue, but perhaps it would be helpful to clear up where it all begins to go wrong and what we can say about his personal life.
Is there a Carlos Gu wife?
No, Gu revealed this news to the world in July 2024, in an interview with Lorraine Kelly on her daytime show, where he also addressed LGBTQ issues in China and claimed his mother was very supportive of him. There is no wife in the picture, and that is out there for more than two years.
The second question being asked is this one: does he have a husband or a boyfriend? No source we looked at while working on this story included anything about one. Gu has spoken about his sexuality and about his family, but he has not introduced a partner into his narrative to date. Some of the experts on the programme do talk about their relationships online. Others keep such things to themselves.
Gu is probably on the second side, and reading into a dancer’s lack of disclosure, any relationship, is a clandestine affair. It’s boundaries, or should be boundaries. If a website says it has a picture of his wife, or a wedding date, or her name, assume those are fabricated. Anyone can toss together a page based on a search term, and the “Carlos Gu wife” Google query is the perfect search term.
Why so many people search for a Carlos Gu wife
There are a few possible reasons for the mix-up – and none of them is the real marriage. It begins with the dance floor, the essence of which is collaboration between a couple. The dances have a romantic quality; the attraction between the dancers is part of the act, and it makes sense that observers ask themselves how that spark translates into real life. Gu has been dancing with women for years, in shows and in competitions, so anyone would assume the pairings extend beyond the studio.
The second is the intensity of his Strictly partnerships. Gu’s first series, in 2022, came with Molly Rainford, a singer and TV presenter, and the pair danced all the way to the grand final. A year later, he was matched with broadcaster Angela Scanlon, but their run ended in the weeks before the quarter-finals. The next year was different. He had no celebrity partner in 2024 and appeared in the group and professional routines. Then came 2025, and Karen Carney. The third, and probably the biggest, is how emotional that 2025 run became.
The Karen Carney factor
Carney and Gu perhaps became the most-discussed couple on the series, and that was largely thanks to Gu. He cried more times than anyone else on screen. He was moved to tears again in the final, opening up about how the process of filming the show made a difference in his life. He was a self-centred young man when he started on the show, he said, and he gave Carney a lot of credit for that.
It was raw, and it hit people head-on. When a dancer melts down while complimenting his dance partner, a few viewers may get the wrong idea. But Carney and Gu have gone out of their way to explain what they are to each other publicly: teammates, friends. On national radio after the final, Carney described him as “a gentle, gentle soul” and said she was friends with him for life.
This was a deserving win. Carney and Gu were declared winners of series 23, beating Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin, and George Clarke and Alexis Warr in the final, in which their jive scored a perfect 40. For Gu, whose previous series had fared badly or, in 2024, due to a lack of a partner, the victory was significant.
Susan Sun, Nancy Xu, and other names that get mixed up
A few other names sometimes get tangled into the “wife” question, so it helps to be clear about them.
Susan Sun and Gu are competitive dance partners. They and their partner danced at Chinese and international championships. Their partnership is for work, a combination of years of practice, patience, and competition. Not a marriage.
Nancy Xu is another Strictly pro and also, according to reports, childhood friends. Gu previously hit back at the speculation that they had fallen out, claiming that they were childhood friends and almost like brother and sister. The two latest social media behaviours – now Gu had been known to follow everyone, and Gu to unfollow some people – fuelled chatter that they had fallen out.
Neither name points to a wife. Both are examples of how a close working relationship in the dance world can be misread from the outside.
What Gu has said about his own life
If you’re interested in the man, not the search query, his own words are far more illuminating than any rumour. China was both a factor in his decision to come out, and how he came out, in 2024. Homosexuality was not discussed in China, he explained, not for lack of concern but because it wasn’t a topic of conversation, and so he moved to the UK, where he had a performance career.
But for someone who grew up in Taiyuan and built a dance career across Britain and China, doing so on a mainstream British television show is a brave thing to do. Behind the stage, Gu has also tried different mediums of art. The first piece of art Gu ever created was titled Reborn, and it was published and publicly discussed in 2025. Not a big deal, but this dance artist uses himself as a medium for more than just dance.
Where things stand now
As it stands, Gu is a beloved Strictly champion, a Chinese national dance champion, and an out-and-proud gay man – whose romantic life has not been discussed publicly – with no wife and no recognised husband or partner. That may change, of course, and if it does, he’ll be the one to let us know. For now, the straightforward answer to the question of Carlos Gu wife is, ‘There isn’t one, and it’s time to relinquish the belief that there is.’ The more interesting story is the one already out there, if you came here for gossip. A dancer who survived a year without a star partner and came back to grab the Glitterball tells a better story than any marriage pattern.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS)
Has Carlos Gu ever tied the knot?
There is nothing on the record to confirm it. Gu hasn’t been shy about his sexuality, but there’s never been an official mention of a husband or wife by any legitimate outlet. Because he’s pretty good about keeping his personal life out of the tabloids, don’t take any wedding or spouse reports as gospel.
Does Carlos Gu Have a Boyfriend or a Husband?
No reliable sources have shown that Carlos Gu has a boyfriend or a husband. Gu revealed he is gay in July 2024. Gu has spoken about his sexuality, his family, and moving to the UK, but he has not revealed who he is dating.
Are Karen Carney and Carlos Gu dating?
No. Karen Carney is partnered with Carlos Gu on the dancefloor and is a close friend. She has referred to him as ‘a friend for life,’ and he has spoken openly about being gay. Their emotional connection on Strictly 2025 was due to their hard work together.
When did Carlos Gu come out as gay?
Gu opened up about being gay in July 2024 on the daytime programme Lorraine Kelly. Speaking about how homosexuality was a taboo topic in China, Gu said that his mum had been supportive of him.
How did Carlos Gu do in Strictly?
KAREN Carney was the holder of the Glitterball after she and Gu lifted it in December 2025 to make him a Strictly winner. The couple took the victory ahead of Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin and George Clarke and Alexis Warr, whose final dance – a jive – earned a perfect 40 from the judges.
