One Strictly Come Dancing celebrity was overheard exclaiming “What the f*** am I doing here? ” despite having impressed viewers in the initial live show.
The BBC contest witnessed history with its first blind contestant, Chris McCausland, who partnered with pro Dianne Buswell to dance the cha cha to The Beatles’ Twist and Shout. Their performance featured a complex maneuver that astonished the judges, with Anton Du Beke confessing he wouldn’t dare attempt it himself.
Chris has now shared his feelings about his debut on Instagram alongside Dianne, humorously suggesting the addition of a stairlift to avoid any mishaps when walking up the stairs on screen.
Taking to the floor as the 13th out of 15 dancers, Chris joked, “Come on, the blind guy the most that could possibly go wrong so they put us 13th, which is taking the p***, isn’t it? I was stood up there for about an hour 45, I’ve got to stand there pretending to watch other people dancing.”
“All I’ve got is Paul Merson commentating for me. Paul’s going, ‘Oh Chris, he’s great, he’s absolutely brilliant. I haven’t even got words to describe how good she is! ‘ I’m like, ‘Paul, put a sock in it, I’d rather just have the songs!'”, reports the Mirror.
Betraying a touch of mirth, Dianne recalled: “I did feel for you, because you had no idea who was dancing what, every time someone came on, he’s going, ‘Who’s this now?'”
Chris gave an insight into the backstage workings of the show, stating: “Two or three songs before [your number] you get taken down to a marquee to do your little opening steps. I tried to be positive. Let’s not go out there and put pressure on ourselves to smash it out the park. Let’s go out and have fun.”
He humorously added: “And then I said, ‘What the f*** am I doing here, Dianne?’ But then that walk from the marquee to backstage, all the backstage corridors. You can imagine it like being in the Colosseum, being led to be fed to the lions! It is horrific!”
However, Chris left the judges speechless with his first performance, as Shirley Ballas confessed: “When I saw the street lights at the beginning, I really didn’t know what to expect. You had lifts just to take her between your legs, you have to time that, it’s hard enough as it is! You had great skills when it came to listening to your partner.”
“Technique… it’s week one. Everybody has to get a little bit stronger in the technique. But that was, for me, actually I’m quite shocked and very emotional. Fabulous.”