The Strictly Come Dancing winner is a doting dad to 11-year-old Sophie

dancing duo on strictly final

Strictly Come Dancing has crowned its new champion on Saturday night, with Chris McCausland lifting the Glitterball with his dance partner Dianne Buswell.

The stand-up comedian became the BBC show’s first blind contestant, sailing through all 13 weeks of the competition without landing himself in the dance-off.

But away from the ballroom, comedian Chris, 47, is a doting father to 11-year-old Sophie whom he keeps out of the public eye.

The Would I Lie To You star did, however, offer a rare insight into his daughter’s thoughts on his Strictly journey before he and Dianne took on their spectacular show dance to You Get What You Give by the New Radicals.

couple holding trophy © BBC/Guy Levy
Chris is the first blind contestant to lift the glitterball trophy

“Being a part of Strictly this year has been a real joy, going into that first episode was the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” the father-of-one opened up.

“I think what we’ve done has really connected with a lot of people and I hope that it will make a difference in terms of people’s attitudes towards people who are blind or disabled people.”

two people dancing© BBC/Guy Levy
Dianne and Chris performed three routines in the Strictly Come Dancing final

Speaking about his daughter Sophie, Chris said: “When I started this my daughter was really nervous. She’s 11 and I think she fed off my fears and my worries, but she’s really enjoyed watching me on it and she’s really proud.”

He continued: “It feels good, you know. I’ve learned that I’m more resilient. I think it’ll take a lot more to scare me in the future, and things don’t have to be perfect for it to be a success.”

The 8 out of 10 Cats star shares his daughter with his wife Patricia whom he wed in 2012 following a four-year relationship.

In an interview with Gyles Brandreth, Chris explained: “I was in such a dilemma about it because I knew I would regret not having kids, but the thought of having kids terrified me”, adding: “You go, ‘How am I going to be able to do those things – I’m not going to be a proper dad, I’m going to be a half dad’. That kind of really caused me a lot of torment in my head.”