Strictly’s Chris McCausland opens up about ‘shame’ and admits other couples are ‘better’

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. There’s a lot of shame.” Which is why McCausland said he was resistant to talking about being blind in his stand-up comedy routines, adamant that being blind was “never a sad thing”. McCausland said he felt ‘shame’ when he was younger “I always thought, if I was in the audience and someone like me came on stage I’d think: ‘Oh f**king hell, this is going to be 20 minutes of blind jokes.’ Which is why I never talked about it – I always tried to make them forget and probably make myself forget.” Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free Admitting that he felt other couples are “better than us”, McCausland said that he and partner Dianne Buswell’s strategy is instead to connect. “That’s been our goal, me and Dianne, to connect with people, entertain and do the best that we can.” He added, “My attitude was: I’ve never seen the show, but take it seriously and put 100 per cent into it.” The remaining Strictly 2024 contestants include McCausland, Montell Douglas, Sarah Hadland, Pete Wicks, JB Gill and Tasha Ghouri.