Strictly star secretly suffering from illness despite being favourite to win

Strictly Come Dancing favourites Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell have revealed they’ve had a particularly tough week, with the pro dancer suffering from a secret illness.

The comedian, 47, has made history on the BBC competition, becoming the first blind celebrity on the dancefloor and for his emotional couple’s choice last Saturday, which featured a powerful blackout moment.

He’s been a firm fan-favourite for weeks though, not just due to his incredible dancing skills, but also his charm and cheeky quips.

The couple scored an impressive 34 points from the judges for their dance to Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

However, despite putting on a brave face, Dianne was not very well behind the scenes.

Taking to Instagram with a rehearsal update, Dianne, 35, shared in a video: ‘I wasn’t very well.’

She went on to explain that she hadn’t been very well on Friday or Saturday, the day of the live show, and called Sunday a ‘right off’.

‘Monday I still wasn’t very well,’ she added, saying she had a ‘stomach bug’.

‘What’s the funny thing?’ Chris then probed in the video.

He replied: ‘It’s that last week, with all those lifts that we had in that dance on Saturday, I said to you, “Do you know before we go out on Saturday, it’d be really handy if you went to the toilet and you did a massive poo, just to make yourself lighter for me.’

As they both laughed at Chris exposing Dianne’s bowel habits, he went on: ‘You’re such a genuine soul, such a lovely person, that you spent all Friday night just…’

‘Loosening my bowels,’ Dianne took over with, as Chris burst into hysterics.

‘Both ends,’ he added. ‘You didn’t have a good night, did you?’

‘Full marks for you for getting through it,’ he said.

Fans were equally as proud of Dianne for pulling through, with @dee1jay writing on Reddit: ‘The fact that she was spinning around for majority of the dance with a giant smile is very impressive. Truely a professional!!’

@Writing_Bookworm said: ‘Not only spinning but she was wearing a fully white outfit while being ill with a stomach bug. I can’t imagine.’

‘Wow. The show must go on really is a way of life for these pros!’ @peggypea added.

@hannahwatso.n wrote: ‘Glad you’re feeling better. not many could still do what you done on saturday whilst ill. hats off to chris for helping you through it.’

‘Would never had known you were ill before the dance on saturday!! so glad you’re feeling better now! the couples choice was gorgeous and i cannot wait for your american smooth this week,’ @buswellsdaisy added.

The pair also spoke about the reaction to their couple’s choice, with Chris joking: ‘Who wants tens? No one wants tens!’

‘The blackout moment was received very well,’ he went on, saying that some fans had instead wanted Dianne to wear a blindfold for a performance.

‘No it would have been an absolute disaster!’ he laughed, adding: ‘Put it this way, it would have been a disaster if she wore a blindfold, but even worse, would have been if she was really good, and everyone would’ve been like, “Oh it’s not that hard then!”‘

He continued: ‘Anyway, we went for this momentary blackout and the idea was not really to put Di in the dark but to put everybody else in the dark and surprise people with what is possible coming out of the dark.’

‘That’s a nice way to put it, because it was a very uplifting song and uplifting dance and I think we definitely got our message across,’ Dianne said.

Viewers had been left in tears over Chris’ dance, once again, after he 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.’

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.’