THE daughter of blind Strictly favourite Chris McCausland begged him not to sign up to the BBC show – fearing he would “fall off the stage and break his leg”.
He said 11-year-old Sophie worried about him “making a fool of himself” in front of millions on live TV every Saturday night.
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Strictly favourite Chris McCausland with pro dancer Dianne BuswellCredit: PA
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Chris McCausland reveals his daughter begged him not to sign up for StrictlyCredit: PA
But comedian Chris, 47, who has made it to week eight of the competition, has proved he is no laughing stock — and is now the bookies’ favourite to be crowned the winner next month.
Ahead of last night’s show, he said: “My daughter is like me — I think she uses comedy to maybe hide her true worries sometimes.
“She was joking, ‘Oh yeah, you will probably fall off the stage and break your leg and ha, ha, ha’.”
It comes after Dianne was almost forced to pull out of their performance last night due to ill health. A source said: “Dianne wasn’t feeling very well and was sick during rehearsals on Saturday.
“She didn’t want to let Chris down, so rested for the afternoon and managed to pull through for the live show.”
The Liverpool comedian lost his sight by the age of 22 due to the hereditary genetic disorder retinitis pigmentosa, passed down from his mother.
Chris, who has been married to Patricia for 12 years, added: “I do think there was a concern there.
“It is my job to look after Sophie and raise her. But I do think she does worry about me.
“But there is an anxiety of looking silly or making a fool of yourself and being embarrassed. Maybe she was a little bit worried about me doing that on the telly.
“She is still nervous every week, but she has really got on board with it and she is embracing it now.”
Chris is partnered with pro dancer Dianne Buswell, who said Sophie was “so happy” when she went to see them doing the tango in the training room last week.
Chris added: “Her favourite dances have been to Wayne’s World and her second was the zombie one.”
The pair performed the samba in Halloween week to Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees and scored 26 out of 40, with judges Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke saying it had “too much bounce”.
But Chris responded: “My daughter didn’t care that my samba was bouncy.”
He also revealed he turned down BBC bosses “a few times” before finally agreeing to take part in Strictly’s 20th anniversary show this year.
I said no to this quite a few times because of that fear — but it has been worth facing it.
Chris McCausland
And he said: “I think the biggest thing I will get out of it is that it is going to take a lot more to scare me in the future.
“Coming into it, I was of the opinion that often the scariest things I have done professionally have been the most rewarding, and this was off the charts in terms of my fear of going into it.
“I said no to this quite a few times because of that fear — but it has been worth facing it.”
Last night, Chris danced his couple’s choice to Instant Karma! by John Lennon.
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Chris says it will ‘take a lot more’ to scare him in the future after appearing on StrictlyCredit: PA
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Chris says he had to ‘get to grips’ with his fearCredit: PA
He said: “One of the realisations I had was that representation is a good thing, no matter what group you are representing.
“I was given the opportunity to represent a group, and whether you are blind, have a disability or an obstacle that stops you from doing something on the biggest show on the telly . . .
“I wasn’t doing it because it terrified me. I had to kind of get to grips with that fear and face it and do this.
“I think to not do it would have been a little bit selfish because not everyone gets the opportunity to build their career up to be given that opportunity.
“And so for me, I think to kind of overcome that has been good for me.
My wife never watched Strictly, really. She has been brought on to the Strictly bus for this series.
Chris McCausland
“It is so unknown for me, because I couldn’t even go back and watch the show.
“If someone asked me if I want to do a panel show, I will just go back and listen to it and I know what it is, whereas with Strictly I just didn’t have a clue — I have been learning as I have been going.”
Chris added that Patricia, who is from Brazil and met him at the Edinburgh Festival in 2005, has been amazed by his performances on the show.
He said: “My wife never watched Strictly, really. She has been brought on to the Strictly bus for this series, in a way.
‘This is consuming’
“She is really blown away with what we have been able to achieve and also what Dianne has been able to get out of me.
“She thinks Dianne is incredible from what she has been able to get out of me because she sees the difference in me, I suppose.
“When I am on stage and telly doing things, I am ‘comedian Chris’ and I am in comedy mode and I am performing.
“But this is consuming, it consumes your home life and your professional life.
“She, more than anybody, has seen the effect that the successes we have had on the show have had on me outside of that TV world.
“It really has been more of a success than I ever thought it could be, and it has been amazing to be a part of.”
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