Strictly Come Dancing’s Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell were visibly moved during their last performance on the show.
Chris, who has made history as the first blind contestant on the BBC series, shared his emotional journey with viewers. He and his dance partner Dianne became tearful as they discussed the significance of their time on Strictly and the impact it had on them both, particularly as they approached the final.
Chris opened up about his feelings, saying: “I shed a tear during the Viennese Waltz last week and I haven’t been able to turn the tap off this week. It’s not taken a lot to get me going. It’s just so overwhelming being in the final. Just the messages I’ve had.
“I’m just really proud of what we’ve been able to do. If I could have picked any [of the judges] to be with me, it would have been Craig. He’s been my toughest critic and so there’s more to learn from him.”
Dianne echoed his sentiments, acknowledging the initial uncertainty and the triumph over it: “There’s so much more that is possible. Even I at the beginning thought I didn’t know how we could do this. And he said, Di I can do so much more than you think. Everyone that may have a disability or an obstacle, you can do so much more than you believe,” she said, following their perfect score from the judges, reports the Mirror.
The emotional climax came after their final dance, leaving both Chris and Dianne speechless and overwhelmed. Judge Shirley Ballas stepped in to comfort Dianne, commending her for being a “very special person”.
Speaking to the media, Dianne remarked on their unchanging partnership since joining the show: “It really hasn’t changed much at all has it? We’ve been pretty much the same. I get on his nerves a bit more nowadays but other than that, it’s the same!”
Elaborating on their understanding of each other, she said: “It’s been very similar from the word go to now. I think we understand each other a lot more now obviously. I know what works for Chris, what he might worry about, for example, we performed first the other day and I was thinking about how I can stop him worrying. I know little things that he does now, and vice versa and he knows things that might make me panic or worry.”
Chris also commented on their immediate connection: “It hasn’t really, I think we kind of just hit it off straight away, didn’t we? Dianne’s learned a lot about patience. There’s a lot of overlaps in our personality and upbringings. I think you could pick up Dianne’s family and drop them in Liverpool and they would be the same family.”
When questioned about the significance of making it to the Strictly final, Dianne couldn’t hide her wonder.
“It’s incredible. It’s not something we ever thought would be possible when we started. We’ve surprised ourselves and other people. It’s the biggest surprise that we’ve made it all the way to the end. Reaching the final is the cherry on the cake,” she reflected.
Chris stated: “I feel like we’ve never stayed in the competition above anybody that got higher scores than us, so it feels like we’ve exceeded expectations and got here on our own merits, so we’ve succeeded above and beyond what we expected of ourselves.”
Strictly Come Dancing is available to catch up on BBC iPlayer