Strictly Come Dancing’s Chris McCausland has disclosed that he was presented with a special offer by the BBC show’s producers, which he chose to decline.
The 47-year-old, currently excelling in this year’s contest, featured on Wednesday night’s episode of The One Show, accompanied by his professional dance partner, Dianne Buswell.
While discussing their journey on the dance programme, Chris and Dianne informed hosts Clara Amfo and Vernon Kay that their experience has been nothing less than remarkable, despite encountering certain obstacles.
Chris, the first visually impaired contestant to grace the Strictly dance floor, described how he frequently battles nerves but is pleased that both the studio audience and viewers at home have appreciated his performances thus far.
Clara probed Chris about how he copes with the noise from the studio audience during his performances, asking: “Now when you move from the rehearsals to the dance floor, does the noise of the audience affect your dancing, Chris?”, reports the Express.
Offering his viewpoint, Chris responded: “Yeah it does because when you’re training I have a sense of Dianne around me and I’ve got the space around me.”
“But when you’ve got an audience, they’re making a lot of noise it all closes in around you and I can’t really hear Dianne at all, so it really makes it very different and that’s why I lot of the nerves came from that first episode, I was worried could I do all of this in that environment.”
He shared details about the offer made to him, saying: “They did offer me and say ‘Would you like us to ask the audience to remain quiet while you’re dancing so it doesn’t affect you.’ I couldn’t think of anything… it was a nice offer but I’d rather go out in a blaze of glory in two weeks than do eight weeks in silence.
“I’d never, you know I’m a comedian, I like an audience reaction. I’d do anything for one!” he quipped.
The revelation follows Dianne’s admission that Chris was anxious during Halloween week, forgetting their routine just before they were set to perform.
Chris and Dianne keep their fans updated with daily diary entries about their dance practices, with Dianne expressing gratitude: “Thank you so much because we were nervous weren’t we.”
She recounted: “He goes ‘I can’t remember the beginning of the dance’. I said ‘yes, you do’. We found a little space because we were like literally seconds from going on.”