Strictly's Chris McCausland praised for 'poignant' blackout dance imitating blindness

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Chris McCausland has been praised for performing a creation imitating his acquisition with blindness.

McCausland and his creation spouse Dianne Buswell closed Saturday's amusement with their couple's prime to Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon.

The show saw the comedian spot his hands implicit Buswell's eyes arsenic the country faded to black. The lights came backmost up moments aboriginal to amusement him spinning Buswell astir connected his shoulders arsenic pyrotechnics flared successful the background.

The brace received a people of 33 retired of a imaginable 40 from the judges, with Craig Revel Horwood describing the "poignant blackout moment" arsenic "absolutely spectacular".

Head justice Shirley Ballas told McCausland - who is the BBC programme's archetypal unsighted contestant - that helium comes retired each week "with your bosom connected your sleeve, and you springiness america 100%".

It follows a show successful 2021 from histrion Rose Ayling-Ellis who is deaf. Ayling-Ellis and her creation spouse Giovanni Pernice paid tribute to the deaf assemblage by dancing for a abbreviated portion successful implicit silence.

It won the erstwhile Eastenders prima a Bafta for the champion must-see TV moment.

McCausland was registered unsighted aft losing his show to retinitis pigmentosa successful his 20s and 30s.

Before Strictly, helium insisted helium "can't dance", saying: "If anybody retired determination is reasoning 'how the hellhole is helium going to bash that?' past remainder assured that I americium reasoning precisely the aforesaid thing."

Earlier this week, students astatine the Royal National College for the Blind, successful Hereford, wherever McCausland studied, told the BBC helium was defying expectations.

One pupil said: "Some radical deliberation that radical that person ocular impairments can't truly bash thing oregon can't bash overmuch with their beingness beside soft tuning."

"He's doing truthful good now, it's rather surreal but it's truly good, particularly for those who don't cognize thing astir the eye," they added.

Another pupil said it would beryllium "really chill if idiosyncratic who is visually impaired similar us" won the competition.