"Believe in Yourself": Chris McCausland's Inspirational Words to Dianne Buswell Before Epic Dance

His epic Cha Cha has been hailed the dance of the night and one of the all-time greatest moments on Strictly Come Dancing.

Yet Chris McCausland had set himself up for failure before he even hit the dance floor, it’s been revealed.

The comedian, 47, has made history as the first ever blind contestant on the show – having admitted he had no clue what to expect given he’s never been able to watch the dance competition.

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And prior to making his ballroom debut on Saturday night, the Would I Lie To You? star wasn’t convinced of his skills.

Taking to Instagram on Sunday after their Cha Cha to The Beatles’ Twist and Shout scored a respectable 23 out of 40 points, Chris’ professional partner Dianne Buswell revealed the comic’s final words before the performance had been plagued with self-doubt.

Strictly’s Dianne Buswell has revealed what blind comedian Chris McCausland’s final words to her were before their epic Cha Cha during Saturday’s first live show

Taking to Instagram on Sunday after their Cha Cha to The Beatles’ Twist and Shout scored a respectable 23 out of 40 points, Dianne revealed the comic’s final words

Alongside a montage of snaps from their performance, Dianne, 35, penned: ‘❤️ wow what a night ! I can truly say dancing last night with Chris was one of my most memorable dance experiences I have ever had!

‘He said to me before we went out let’s not tell our selves we are going to be amazing because that’s just adding pressure , he said let’s tell ourselves we’re just going to go and have fun !! Followed by a Di what the #%*% am I doing here.

‘Thank you for your trust Chris your an absolute LEGEND and I can not wait to share that floor with you as many times as we get the chance too @chrismccauslandcomedy @bbcstrictly.’

Chris was quick to respond to the post, commenting: ‘I was so emotionally frazzled afterwards and I am still recovering.

‘You are the absolute best! See you on Monday partner ❤️’.

Following Saturday’s performance Chris is being tipped as a potential winner of the glitterball trophy by several fans.

The comedian had already won over viewers, having left them in hysterics with a string of viral gags.

The funnyman previously detailed how he made a shock career change after losing his sight 20 years ago, forcing him to give up his job as a web developer.

Chris’ epic Cha Cha Cha has been hailed the dance of the night and one of the all-time greatest moments on Strictly Come Dancing

Following Saturday’s performance Chris is being tipped as a potential winner of the glitterball trophy by several fans

After finding success with his role in the cBeebies series Me Too, he’s become a fixture of the comedy scene.

After growing up in Liverpool, Chris started losing his sight 20 years ago, between the ages of 16 and 21, due to retinitis pigmentosa, a condition which according to the NHS, sees sufferers lose their sight as the light-sensing cells of the retina gradually deteriorate.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of rare, genetic disorders that involve a breakdown and loss of cells in the retina – the light sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye.

The NHS website explains that people with RP lose their vision as light-sensing cells of the retina gradually deteriorate.

It is generally characterised by a black pigmented appearance of the retina when a specialist looks inside the eyes.

Speaking about his visual impairment previously while taking part in Channel 4 series Scared of the Dark, Chris explained: ‘I’m blind but I don’t see black.

‘I still see light and space, I still have an awareness of the space around me, not in terms of objects and things, but in terms of the room and whether there might be something in front of me.

‘It just gives you that awareness that you’re taking that away from me. I’m a slave to my iPhone like everybody else. So on paper you go, ‘Well, I should nail this,’ but in one area I should be more practically adjusted.

‘It’ll be quite interesting to see how quickly everybody else gets to that point. I’m quite looking forward to being the most able bodied person for a while. It doesn’t happen often.’

After losing his sight, Chris was forced to give up his job as a web developer, and decided to become a comedian after trying his hand a new act night in 2003 (pictured in 2009)

His career soon skyrocketed, going to to have a seven-year stint at the Edinburgh Fringe and an appearance on Live At The Apollo in 2018 (pictured at the Royal Variety in 2021)

Strictly Come Dancing: Week One Scores

1. JB Gill and Amy Dowden – Waltz to When I Need You by Leo Sayer: 31 out of 40

2=. Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola – Quickstep to 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton: 30 out of 40

2=. Tasha Ghouri and Alja¿ ¿korjanec – Cha Cha to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter: 30 out of 40

3=. Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe – Foxtrot to Is You Is or Is You Ain¿t My Baby by Dinah Washington: 26 out of 40

3=. Wynne Evans and Katya Jones – Samba to Help Yourself by Tom Jones: 26 out of 40

4=. Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell – Cha Cha to Twist and Shout by The Beatles: 23 out of 40

4=. Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin – Foxtrot to Where Did Our Love Go by The Supremes: 23 out of 40

4=. Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas – Viennese Waltz to Beautiful Things by Benson Boone: 23 out of 40

4=. Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova – Tango to Golden by Harry Styles: 23 out of 40

5. Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu – Samba to Do I Do by Stevie Wonder: 21 out of 40

6. Punam Krishan and Gorka Marquez – Cha Cha to Love At First Sight by Kylie Minogue: 19 out of 40

7. Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk – Jive to We Built This City by Starship: 18 out of 40

8=. Paul Merson and Karen Hauer – American Smooth to Vindaloo by Fat Les: 17 out of 40

8=. Pete Wicks and Jowita Przysta¿ – Paso Doble to Breathe by The Prodigy: 17 out of 40

9=. Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones – Tango to Ray Of Light by Madonna: 12 out of 40

After losing his sight, Chris was forced to give up his job as a web developer, saying in 2012: ‘I used to be a web site developer but my eyesight got worse and worse and the websites just got uglier and uglier.

‘I decided that nobody wanted an ugly website and so made the decision to get out of IT completely.

‘I ended up working in a call centre for a while just until I could figure out what I wanted to do with my life, and it was while I was there that I dared myself to give stand-up comedy a go… and here we are nine years later!’

After trying his hand in comedy during a new act comedy night in 2003, Chris was soon recognised for his humour after winning the Jongleurs J2O Last Laugh competition, before gaining recognition in other competitions.

His career soon skyrocketed, going to to have a seven-year stint at the Edinburgh Fringe and an appearance on Live At The Apollo in 2018, before continuing on to make several TV appearances.

In a 2021 interview with The Guardian, Chris shared that he also applied to be a spy with MI5, but ended up failing to make the cut due to his eyesight.

‘I got down to the last 30 out of 3,000 for MI5 selection,’ he said.

‘Eventually, I got refused because of my eyesight. Fair play. It’s perfectly acceptable to discriminate for the safety of the nation. The job was identifying and targeting terrorist threats, which obviously you need to do in a limited amount of time.’