Strictly's Chris McCausland reveals sound struggle during routine

The comedian is the first blind contestant on the BBC show

Julia Hunt
·Contributor
·3-min read
For use in UK, Ireland or Benelux countries only Undated BBC handout photo of comedian Chris McCausland, who has become the first contestant named for this year's BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing contest. Issue date: Monday August 5, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story SHOWBIZ Strictly. Photo credit should read: BBC/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: Not for use more than 21 days after issue. You may use this picture without charge only for the purpose of publicising or reporting on current BBC programming, personnel or other BBC output or activity within 21 days of issue. Any use after that time MUST be cleared through BBC Picture Publicity. Please credit the image to the BBC and any named photographer or independent programme maker, as described in the caption.
Chris McCausland is Strictly's first blind contestant. (BBC)

Strictly's Chris McCausland feared his routine wouldn't go as planned because the noise of the live show meant he couldn't hear his pro partner Dianne Buswell, which he relies on.

The comedian is making history as the first blind contestant on the BBC ballroom show, and has shared that hearing Buswell's voice and movement across the dancefloor is a huge help as he performs. But as the pair stepped out in week one for a Beatles-inspired Cha Cha, the excitement in the studio made it hard for McCausland to hear anything.

Speaking on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two, he said it created a "cauldron of noise" that left him "worried" he wouldn't be able to perform his moves properly.

McCausland and Buswell were both on the show on Wednesday, 25 September where the star admitted that he felt "terrified" before dancing at the weekend.

"I didn’t know what I was getting into," he said. "There were so many bits in that dance where if you got it wrong it was the end of the dance. When we are training I can hear Dianne around me, I can hear her footsteps, I can hear her existing around me and I knew from the opening show when we did the group dance, when the crowd are cheering and that, it closes in the room and I lose all that sound.

"So not only can I not see her, but I can't hear her around me."

Chris McCausland said he couldn't hear partner Dianne Buswell on the dancefloor. (BBC screengrab)
Chris McCausland said he couldn't hear partner Dianne Buswell on the dancefloor. (BBC screengrab)

McCausland said he was "worried" they wouldn’t be able to pull off the routine they had worked so hard on "in that kind of cauldron of noise on live TV".

"And there's no chance of a good edit is there?" he quipped.

Read more: Strictly

However, McCausland and Buswell's performance did come off and they ended up scoring 23 out of a possible 40 marks. "When we got through it, the relief!" the star said.

Chris McCausland on Strictly with Dianne Buswell. (BBC)
Chris McCausland on Strictly with Dianne Buswell. (BBC)

McCausland and Buswell also talked about how they are rehearsing, with the dancer saying that "touch and feel and sound is working really well".

"It’s obviously very different, so we use a lot of feel don’t we?" she said, turning to the comedian. "I’ll be like, ‘Get down on your knees and feel my legs’ and so it’s a different way of teaching.

"He hears the sounds as well, very very well, so he’ll say to me, 'Can you just do that with your feet?' so he can hear what I'm doing and then he kind of makes something of that."

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell on The One Show. (BBC screengrab)
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell on The One Show. (BBC screengrab)

"It's interesting and we are still learning and we are still working it out together… but it’s working," added the dancer.

"I can’t just show Chris what I want him to do, so it’s a lot of explanations which we’ve found... I’m not the best at them am I?" she giggled, as McCausland agreed.

Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday night.

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