STRICTLY ‘underdog’ Chris McCausland was left in tears as he made the final after dodging last night’s semi dance off.
Speaking to co-host Claudia Winkleman, 52, in the Clauditorium with his dance partner Dianne Buswell, 35, the comedian struggled to contain his emotions while looking back on his journey.
Claudia shared an emotional moment with Chris, 47, who is registered blind after losing his sight to retinitis pigmentosa.
She said: “Chris, we met here on this very sofa. You said, ‘Three weeks maximum.’ I have news for you. You are a Strictly Come Dancing finalist.”
Chris fought back tears and struggled to express his disbelief.
He admitted: “I haven’t recovered since the end of the Waltz. It’s been emotional.
“Thank you for getting on board with what we’ve been doing. It’s been hard. It’s been the scariest thing I’ve ever done.”
He added, “I think in the top 10 scariest things I’ve ever done, it’s 10 episodes of this. It’s been knackering, mentally fatiguing, but it’s been incredible. I can barely talk.”
Dianne was sat by his side, overwhelmed with pride.
She gushed: “You can see by the emotion on Chris, it’s hard to crack this guy. He hides behind his comedy a lot, but it really is coming from the heart. And I would not have changed this for the world.”
Turning to Chris, she continued: “You have taught me so much, and I am so grateful for you. The fact that we are here in the final now just shows that anything really is possible.
“We just want to make this joyful. We want to have the time of our life. I want to show off all the stuff that Chris has learned throughout this series.
“And you know, obviously he loves his ballroom, so we’re going to put a bit of ballroom in there. We just want everyone to smile along with us at home.”
Chris was also full of excitement about their plans for the final.
The pair revealed they had chosen an “excellent” song for their final routine.
Just last week, Chris revealed he turned down a BBC request to create a behind-the-scenes spin-off that would delve into how he learned to dance.
The TV personality also shared that one of the main reasons he eventually agreed to the series, after turning down previous offers, was because he felt he could better represent the blind community through humor, rather than a “sob story”.
Initially, he doubted his chances of progressing far enough in the competition to warrant the change, and so he had planned only to move the first part of his stand-up tour, which clashed with the dance series, while keeping the later dates intact.
When asked about the potential for a deeper documentary exploring his journey with the dance moves, he said: “Somebody’s asked from the BBC to come in and film and stuff, and like film half an hour and talk to us about this.
“I said ‘no’ to it because I think – it’s a bit of a naff word – but it kind of ruins the magic a little bit for people to see it on the telly.
“I’d rather people go ‘how the hell did they do that?’ rather than ‘That’s how they did it then.'”
Chris admitted that he was initially terrified at the thought of taking part and had always rejected earlier attempts to sign him up. However, after some encouragement from friends, he gradually warmed to the idea.
He explained to fellow semi-finalist Pete Wicks on the Staying Relevant podcast before his departure: “I kind of acclimatised myself to the idea over a little bit of time.
“It was an opportunity. If it worked out it would be great for being able to be on the telly and represent in a way.
Gorka Marquez joined Strictly Come Dancing as a professional dancer in 2016 when he was partnered with EastEnders actress Tameka Empson. The following year he was partnered with singer Alexandra Burke. They reached the final and finished as one of the runners-up.
In 2020, he was partnered with actress Maisie Smith. Again, he made it to the final and finished as a runner-up.
He failed to make it third time lucky in 2022, finishing runner-up again with Helen Skelton.
Nadiya Bychkova joined the show in 2017 with EastEnders actor Davood Ghadami. The pair reached Week 11, finishing in 6th place.
Her best performance to date came in 2021 when she finished fifth with Dan Walker.
Neil Jones has been without a celebrity partner more times than he’s had one since joining in 2016.
His best finish was with ex-footballer Alex Scott in 2019, finishing in fifth.
Katya Jones was another 2016 addition and made an instant impression with politician Ed Balls. Their Gangnam Style routine is still a favourite to this day.
In 2017 she lifted the Glitterball with Joe McFadden.
The following year she was at the heart of a show scandal after snogging her dance partner, the comedian Seann Walsh.
Karen Hauer has been an ever-present since 2012.
Despite her lengthy association with the show, she’s never lifted the Glitterball. The closest she came was in 2020 when she finished runner-up with Jamie Laing.
“I believe in representation but only if it works.
“A lot of people say ‘do you think it’s inspiring for blind people? Blind people aren’t watching Strictly – I didn’t watch Strictly.
“But I think it’s good for people from all walks of life to be seen by everybody else on the telly.
“It’s a privilege I suppose.
“I kind of knew that maybe if I do it, it’s not going to be all violins and sob stories. I can do it with a little bit of humour and stuff like that. So I knew I could represent well, the dancing aside.
“Going into episode one, show one, I was sh*tting myself.”
He added that when the offer came in, he initially turned it down because it conflicted with his tour dates. However, his manager suggested he could rearrange the gigs – or at least the earlier ones.
McCausland explained: “When we were figuring out the tour dates and moving the tour dates, I was actually looking through and going ‘so these ones I definitely can’t do, these ones I could probably still do.’
“And then I made the decision ‘do you know what, just move them all’, because if I’m going to do this I’m going to need to put 100% into it.
“I had to move the tour to do this, so I actually said no to this year as well. The tour was my main excuse, ‘booked in, I can’t do it.'”
