Dianne Buswell has revealed that she received countless messages telling her that she would not make it far in the competition after being paired with Strictly Come Dancing’s first blind contestant.
The 35-year-old last reached the final in 2018 with partner Joe Sugg, but they just missed out on the Glitterball Trophy as Stacey Dooley and partner Kevin Clifton took the crown that year.
Comedian McCausland, 47, is the show’s first ever blind contestant, and has spoken about the “shame” he first felt about his condition, admitting he felt other couples were “better”. The pair have given themselves the team name, “Winning is not everything”, but have confessed they would relish the opportunity to be in the final.
In the semi-final on Saturday (7 December), Buswell and McCausland danced the Charleston to “When You’re Smiling” by The Blue Vipers of Brooklyn and the Viennese Waltz to Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”.
After their second performance, Buswell was left in tears as she talked about how proud she was of her partner. She admitted that she’d been told that she would not make it very far after being assigned McCausland.
“I have taught Chris this whole time, without a single visual cue,” she began. “He’s never been able to watch a video back to see whether he’s done a great job, or to look at anything and think ‘Oh maybe I can improve on that.’
“He’s never been able to see any of his competitors, or see what the competition is like. He’s had none of that, but he’s done so well because he’s captured the spirit of this show. I could not be prouder of him. He has shown that things are so possible.”
She then said, “Before I got Chris I had a lot of messages saying, you know, ‘You’re going to have a really quick series. It’s amazing you’ve got Chris, you’re going to learn a lot, but you’ll be out pretty soon’.”
She concluded, “To be in the semi-final we have proven so many people wrong and that is a testament to Chris.”
