Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland skips tour as fans question his absence
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Strictly Come Dancing's Chris McCausland has become the first winner to skip the show's UK tour, as he performed his own comedy show just miles away from the BBC dance show's first night in Birmingham. The 47-year-old comedian wowed audiences on Strictly Come Dancing as his pro partner, Dianne Buswell, helped him become the first blind contestant to win the Glitterball Trophy. While it is usual for the winner to then head the UK tour of Strictly, Chris has decided to continue his stand-up comedy tour rather than cancel dates to perform in the dance show. Chris has explained previously: "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.".
As Strictly opened its tour in Birmingham, Chris was just miles away in the West Midlands, performing at the Walsall Arena, where the audience was lapping up his humour. In exclusive photos, Chris was seen smiling and confidently performing his stand-up set while dressed in a grey suit and white T-shirt.
While Chris isn't joining the tour, his dance partner Dianne is keeping a tradition going, which they started while starring on Strictly. Sharing a video on Instagram, Dianne is seen playing a game she used to play with Chris, ahead of the tour kick-off.
Chris would take different KitKats and get her to guess the flavour just by taste and smell. With Chris back on the road doing stand-up, Dianne stepped into Chris’ shoes and got her dad, Mark, to take the place of the guesser. Getting into the spirit, Chris jokingly said that she could expect to see him in court.
