BBC Strictly Come Dancing star says 'it's a shame' about Chris McCasualnd as he misses dancing return

Chris McCausland is very much missed by his Strictly Come Dancing co-stars as he's unable to join them on the latest tour around the country.

As fans know, Chris - who was the hit dance show's first-ever blind contestant and winner - and professional dancer Dianne Buswell were paired together for the 20th-anniversary series of the hit show back in September.

They quickly became fan-favourites, and after 12 weeks of impressive performances, they were eventually crowned champions of the 2024 series following a glittering finale during week 13 in mid-December.

Chris and Dianne have since parted ways. Chris was unable to sign up for the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour 2025 due to his own touring commitments with his stand-up show, Yonks!

He previously explained about his absence from the upcoming string of arena shows, which Dianne has this week been seen in rehearsals for: "I'm afraid I will not be able to do the Strictly tour. My own tour was meant to be on the road in September and a lot of dates were moved to Jan and Feb to accommodate doing #Strictly. It's unfortunate as it's been so much fun, but my own dates can't be moved for a second time."

On Thursday (January 16) the stars of Strictly Live provided a preview at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham before they kick off to their first live audience on Friday night (January 17).

Speaking to the PA news agency at the launch, Tasha Ghouri said comedian Chris' partnership with Australian dancer Dianne was so "incredible" and "inspiring", and she felt "so lucky to be part of that this year". She added: “It’s a shame that he can’t be here, but he’s here with us in our hearts, he really is, truly a special guy.”

The dancer and model, who was the second deaf contestant on the show and continues to be partnered with Aljaz Skorjanec for the tour, will face the other celebrities as the audiences decides who wins the coveted glitterball trophy at the end of each stop.

Opera singer Evans, and his professional partner Katya Jones – who were the eighth couple to depart last year, joked about McCausland backing them. Wynne, known for the Go.Compare insurance advertisements, said: "It’s so nice to be back and all the way through, and when we got knocked out in Blackpool, having the tour to look forward to was fantastic."

"It kept us going," Katya said as Wynne fired back saying you are "used to it" as his dance partner added: "Chris actually told everybody, I heard, that people must vote for us to win." He said: "If people are coming to the show, what he said was, because he can’t be here, ‘all his fans should vote for Katya and myself’ because I think we should have got a lot further than we did."