Strictly’s Chris McCausland reveals he ‘does not need sympathy vote’

Strictly Come Dancing favourite Chris McCausland has insisted he ‘doesn’t want to be the sympathy vote,’ after becoming odds-on favourite to win the show.

The comedian, 47, who is blind, has stunned viewers with his moves, and is set to dance an emotional Waltz with his professional partner Dianne Buswell this weekend. 

Despite his dancing skills, Chris said that he wants to progress on merit, and said he ‘doesn’t mind’ if viewers laugh at his performances. 

‘I don’t want to be the sympathy vote. I don’t mind being a bad dancer. I don’t mind people laughing at me because I’m a comical dancer or a bad dancer, but I didn’t want it to be a calamity because I can’t see,’ Chris told The Mirror.

The Strictly star went onto detail the fear he felt before his first performance, which sent viewers into a frenzy and quickly turned himself and Dianne as a fan-favourite.

He added: ‘That first episode, I mean, to say I was s****ing my pants is an understatement. These last weeks have been hard in terms of energy. 

‘I’ve hit a few walls along the way and that’s to be expected for a fellow that sits on stool for a living. I suppose you could say that stand up is that thing of feeling the fear and doing it anyway.’ 

‘I just embrace the madness. I mean, I’ve made peace with looking like an idiot, so I’m just kind of like, ‘dress me in what you want, paint me what colour you want, and push me out of there’.

The EastEnders alum also admitted to keeping Strictly bosses on their toes as he refuses to give them a heads up on any jokes he has planned – but knows well how to ‘police himself’ for daytime TV.

It comes after Chris revealed the secret signal he gives his partner Dianne during the Strictly live shows.

He said that he hugs onto Dianne tightly when they make it through to another week.

And the reason he does this, is to give him time to gather his emotions so he doesn’t cry on TV.  

‘I hug you so tight at the end so I can make sure I’m not going to cry on telly,’ he said.

Opening up about how the show makes him emotional, he added: ‘The relief of getting through it, then for you to be so ecstatic at the end and then the audience reaction, it’s a lot, we have little lip wobbles.’

Dianne and Chris update fans each week with a video dairy as they talk through their previous performance and how they’ve been preparing for the next one.  

In a clip shared on Tuesday, Diane said ‘We’ve survived another week,’ to which Chris asked: ‘Well why did we survive another week Di?’

‘Because of the lovely people that saved us,’ Dianne said, as Chris added: ‘Because of the generosity of the people out there that picked up their phones. 

‘Got their thumbs ready and texted, emailed, whatever it is you do, sent off a pigeon out the window with a piece of paper tied to its leg. We’re still here.’

Moving the conversation on to how Chris has been feeling, Dianne said: ‘We need to talk about the emotional side of this, we do.’

‘You know what I’m like today Di,’ Chris replied.

Dianne said: ‘So Chris feels very emotional today. One thing he does every time is he hugs me so tight at the end because, you tell them.’

‘I hug you so tight at the end so I can make sure I’m not going to cry on telly,’ Chris added. ‘The relief of getting through it, then for you to be so ecstatic at the end and then the audience reaction, it’s a lot, we have little lip wobbles.

‘I gave you a hug and held on until I knew I could speak and then the people’s support over the weekend was overwhelming. You did a great job too.’

Dianne added: ‘Thank you. You know we both did a fantastic job and you know onwards and upwards, we have another lovely lovely dance this week and I’m very excited about it. Lovely general one. I’m really proud of you.’