Strictly Come Dancing 2024 winner Chris McCausland has paid tribute to professional dancer Dianne Buswell, crediting her for helping him secure the BBC title. The comedian, 49, won the competition alongside Dianne, 37, and reflected on their journey during the November 15 episode of Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh on ITV.
Chris lost his sight at age 22 due to retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary condition. Unable to visually absorb the complex choreography, Dianne had to adapt her teaching approach each week.
Training from scratch
Chris explained that Dianne had to start from scratch with him every Monday because other contestants could watch fellow dancers' routines and learn from them. He said: "Dianne had to start from scratch with me every Monday because all the other dancers, all the other contestants could watch everybody else's dances each week. So when it became their turn to do a tango, they kind of knew what that was. Whereas, I didn't have any of that. So she had to start from scratch."
He added: "Full credit to Dianne because it was just brilliant how we worked together, really, and 100% trust," before noting Blackpool was his favourite week, saying: "We did American Smooth. It was just joyous to do, really."
Glitterball triumph
The pairing captured viewers' hearts throughout their BBC run, lifting the Glitterball Trophy in December 2024. At the time, Dianne praised Chris for "changing her life."
Sharing photographs from their win on Instagram, she wrote: "My teaching style was 90 percent visual I wouldn't want to teach in a room without mirrors because it was the way I perfected things. With Chris we had to find different ways of making it work."
She continued: "And this is what Chris is brilliant as he is a problem solver and he taught me to think outside the box. Just because there's an obstacle in the way doesn't mean you can't get to the destination successfully. I am forever grateful for the friendship I have gained in such an incredible person - he says I changed his life but likewise I see things in a different way now and I'm forever grateful."
The Australian professional added: "This really was a moment that I'll never forget in my life! I had my beautiful parents in the audience and them seeing me dance was something I wanted for so long the fact they got to see us lift the glitterball was just magical."
New partnership
This year, Dianne is partnered with Big Brother host Will Best as she attempts to repeat her success. Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh is available to stream on ITVX.
