Strictly Come Dancing contestant Chris McCausland has received praise for presenting a dance simulating his own experience of blindness.
McCausland and her dance partner Dianne Buswell closed out Saturday’s show with their couple’s choice Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon.
During the performance the comedian placed his hand over Buswell’s eyes and the room went black. After a while the lights came back up to show Buswell twirling on his shoulders as fireworks flashed in the background.
The pair received 33 out of a possible 40 from the judges, with Craig Revel Horwood describing the “poignant blackout moment” as “absolutely brilliant”.
Head judge Shirley Ballas told McCausland – who is the BBC programme’s first blind contestant – to come in with his hand on his heart every week, and you give us 100%.
It is like this A performance by actor Rose Ayling-Ellis in 2021 Who is deaf. Ayling-Ellis and her dance partner Giovanni Pernice paid tribute to the deaf community by dancing in silence for a moment.
It won the former Eastenders star a BAFTA award for Best Must-See TV Moment.
McCausland was registered blind after losing his vision due to retinitis pigmentosa in his 20s and 30s.
Before Strictly, he insisted he “can’t dance”, adding: “If anyone out there is wondering ‘How’d he do that?’ Then rest assured that I am thinking exactly the same thing.”
Earlier this week, students at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford, where McCausland studied, Told the BBC that he was dashing expectations.
One student said: “Some people think that visually impaired people can’t really do anything or do much in their lives other than tuning a piano.”
“He’s doing so well now, it’s quite surreal but it’s really good, especially for people who don’t know anything about the eye,” he said.
Another student said that “it would be really nice if someone who is visually impaired like us” wins the competition.
