Chris McCausland reflects on sight loss as he performs emotional Strictly first

If Chris McCausland had £1 for every time he’s made us cry on Strictly Come Dancing, he’d be a very rich man.

And, unsurprisingly, his couple’s choice routine was no exception.

Tonight, Chris, 47, and his pro partner Dianne Buswell, 36, performed a dazzling number to Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Chris bravely opened up in his VT, reflecting on his childhood and telling viewers how he came to lose his sight.

The comedian began: ‘You’ve gotta do things, haven’t you? If there’s something that’s scary, what is the worst that can happen?’

‘I came into this thinking, “This could be a bit of a disaster,” but here we are,’ he continued, reminiscing on his Strictly journey.

‘I’m surprising myself as well as everybody else.’

‘When I was born, my eyesight was maybe perfect, but it deteriorated very, very, very steadily until probably late teens, early twenties, when all the useful stuff just went,’ Chris, who is Strictly’s first-ever blind contestant, explained.

‘It’s just everybody’s own experience, but mine was denial, frustration… you pretend you can see.

‘You try and blunder through. It actually becomes easier when you can’t see anything because, for the first time, you’ve got this plateau, just this consistency.

‘It wasn’t sad; it was just the way it was.’

Chris then revealed that he’s been asked to do Strictly ‘a few times’ in the past, but he turned it down because he was ‘scared’.

‘I realised that for me to not do this is quite selfish because I’m lucky enough to get myself to a position where I have the opportunity to represent people,’ he then said.

‘It’s not that people with disabilities need inspiring, or they need to see themselves on the telly.

‘I think everybody else does. There are a lot of people out there who don’t have any exposure to somebody who’s blind or somebody with a disability, and I think it’s important to show people that more is possible than you would think.’

He added proudly: ‘People out there with a disability are way more resilient, way more creative; they’re good at problem-solving in ways that other people just don’t have to be.’

Australian pro Dianne chimed in with an insight into what her partnership with Chris has taught her.

‘We are really going by each other’s trust, feel, by what I tell you… I am enjoying the process a lot more and seeing dance in a real different light to what I’m used to.’

‘Dancing with you, I’m seeing a different kind of perfection,’ she told him sweetly.

‘Things don’t have to be perfect for something to be effective and beautiful and mean a lot.’

As the pair took to the dancefloor, they gave us a Strictly first.

Chris and Dianne were praised for a poignant blackout moment in their couple’s choice, which mimicked Chris’s own experience as a blind person.

Head judge Shirley Ballas told them: ‘You don’t miss a beat. You have no fear. You come out every week with your heart on your sleeve, and you give us 100%.’

Craig Revel Horwood added: ‘That poignant blackout moment was absolutely spectacular.’

After the couple scored 33 points, viewers took to X to express their pride for Chris and, just like us, they were all in need of tissues.

‘I’ll never not be impressed by this lad – Chris McCausland is a phenomenon…Dianne is a genius & the blackout…wow really hits home he has no frame of reference for any of these dances’, wrote linzirob.

User jonnymgdraws praised: ‘I reckon that’s just won the whole show for Chris. Bloody incredible!!’

Echoing all the emotion, MittenDAmour said: ‘Dianne trusting Chris with a lift in the dark like he trusts her the rest of the time, I can’t.’

‘Outstanding routine from Chris and Diane. LOVED the lift coming out of the darkness. So much skill, trust, sheer brilliance and inspiration’, praised JulietMckee.

Chris has proven himself to be a firm favourite among Strictly fanatics over recent weeks, competing alongside Pete Wicks, Tasha Ghouri, JB Gill, Sarah Hadland, Wynne Evans, Jamie Borthwick, and Shayne Ward, all of whom are hoping to lift the glitter ball trophy.