Strictly Come Dancing winner admits BBC series 'broke me down' in surprise admission

Comedian Chris McCausland has made a shock admission about his time on Strictly Come Dancing. During the 2024 series of the BBC competition show, the 48-year-old, paired with Dianne Buswell, danced all the way to the finale and even lifted the coveted glitterball trophy in a monumental win for the show. Chris became Strictly's first blind contestant to appear on the competition and eventually make history as the show's first blind winner. Throughout the series, the comedian opened up about losing his sight at 22, due to retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease.

But, one year on, Chris has reflected on his addition to the series and admitted taking part was "relentless" due to his disability. Among the many struggles he encountered, the star was unable to look back at his performances to improve his technique to better his chances on the show. Chris stated: "I couldn't watch the videos back to see how I'd done on Strictly. Every dance studio has mirrors for a reason, because it helps to look at what you're doing. I couldn't look at my own posture and say, 'Oh yeah, I see what you mean there.'"

Despite this, each week, Chris left the viewers, and the panel of judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Craig Revel Horwood, and Anton Du Beke impressed.

Among many of his routines, he performed a series of lifts, bringing many to tears with his triumphant routines as he took to the dance floor week by week.

However, the star revealed he reached the peak of difficulty in week 12, which marked the semi-final, where the remaining contestants were tasked with debuting two brand new routines.

This included the Charleston, which they performed to When You're Smiling by The Blue Vipers Of Brooklyn, and the Viennese Waltz to Metallica's hit Nothing Else Matters.

Reflecting on the rehearsals, Chris told The Times: "By week 12 of Strictly, I was so depleted in every aspect of my being. I had no resilience left. It broke me down week by week. I can't think of anything else on TV that is that exposing, consuming, relentless, pressurised, and under that much scrutiny.

"What me and Dianne [Buswell] were able to do together took us by surprise. It gave people something joyful to connect with on the show. It felt remarkable to be a part of it," he added.

In addition to winning the competition, the pair also won big at the Bafta TV Awards earlier this year and scooped the gong for Memorable Moment in 2025. They won it for their unforgettable waltz to You'll Never Walk Alone during the final, which awarded them a total score of 116 across their three routines.