Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland has praised his dancing partner Dianne Buswell in a sweet tribute to the professional dancer. The comedian, 49, won the BBC competition in 2024 with help from pro Dianne, 37.
Reflecting on the Journey
He reflected on their journey to victory in today's (November 15) episode of Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh. Speaking on the ITV day show, Chris opened up about the unique training techniques Dianne used to help him learn routines.
Chris lost his sight at the age of 22 due to a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa. That means he couldn't visually learn the tricky Strictly choreographies, so Dianne had to start from scratch each week.
Training from Scratch
He explained: "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."
The actor continued: "Full credit to Dianne because it was just brilliant how we worked together, really, and 100% trust," before adding: "Blackpool was my favourite week. We did American Smooth. It was just joyous to do, really."
Victory and Friendship
The Strictly duo won over fans during their BBC stint and consequently lifted the Glitterball Trophy in December 2024. At the time of their victory, Dianne herself praised Chris for "changing her life".
Posting a series of pictures from their winning night, she wrote on Instagram: "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.
"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 dancer 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."
This season, Dianne has been paired up with Big Brother presenter Will Best as she tries to replicate her victory. Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh is available to stream on ITVX.
