He’s the standout star of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing but Chris McCausland has confirmed he will not appear in the show’s live tour from January.

The bookies now have him as the runaway favourite to win after scoring his first 10s in Blackpool last weekend and, if they are right, Chris will be the first winner not to join the tour since it began in 2008. But the Liverpool-born comedian has a very good reason – the dates clash directly with his own stand-up tour which he’d already shifted to take part in Strictly in the first place.

Now the star, who is partnered with Dianne Buswell, is refusing to let down the thousands of fans who have bought tickets to see him perform all over the UK in January and February.

 

Strictly Come Dancing duo Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell dazzled once more on Saturday evening, this time wowing the audience at the iconic Blackpool Tower Ballroom ( 
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ITV)
A spokesperson for the comedian, who has been blind since his twenties, said: “Chris has already shifted the dates of his tour to do Strictly and that wasn’t an easy thing to do. There were a lot of disappointed people and it was stressful – we got a lot of messages. So he couldn’t move them again, absolutely not. 

“Everyone has been very straight about this all the way along the line. It’s a great shame, because he’d love to do the tour, but Chris is not available. He said at the point of signing up that he wouldn’t be able to do it, that it wasn’t going to be possible, it was always clear.

“The lovely thing is no one could have foreseen just how well it was going to go for him on Strictly. No one thought he’d get this far. But having already moved his tour dates once to accommodate the show, he is unable to do it again. His own tour was pre-planned and came first. There’s no way it can be moved for a second time, that just wouldn’t be fair on his fans.”

Dianne and Chris had a great time in Blackpool as Strictly Come Dancing celebrated its 20th anniversary ( 
Image:
BBC)

Chris and Dianne wore silly glasses as they goofed around in Blackpool ahead of performing their American Smooth, which got 37 points ( 
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INSTAGRAM)

It comes after the funnyman, 47, last month added 100 extra dates to his tour, which now runs from January 2025 to April 2026. Most of the original dates have sold out. But his non-availability is a headache for both Strictly tour bosses and BBC Studios, who fear it could have a knock-on affect on ticket sales. It also calls into question Craig Revel-Horwood’s assurance that the event, which charges between £35 and £100 for tickets, will allow fans to see “their favourite celebrities and dancers up close and personal.” 

On Saturday in Blackpool Chris and Dianne scored their first 10s of the series from judges Anton du Beke and Shirley Ballas for their American Smooth, reducing Dianne to tears of joy. Shirley told Chris that he had the “best feet I’ve seen in a long time” while Anton described it as “exquisite”and said he’d be amazed it anyone did better.

This weekend is another big one for Dianne, because her parents have flown in from Australia to be in the audience for their Paso Doble to Manuel Panella’s El Gato Montes. The Strictly Live Tour claims to capture “all the joy” of the TV series while also promising to give audiences “the chance to experience everything they love about the TV show live on stage.”

The Strictly Come Dancing judges have been blown away by Chris’s ability to dance, with Shirley telling Dianne she was doing a magnificent job of teaching him ( 
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PA)Don’t Miss

 

Launching it, Craig declared: “It’s going to be bigger and better than ever before. Audiences will be able to enjoy all of the glitz and glamour of the TV show and see their favourite celebrities and dancers up-close and personal. And with Motsi joining us for the first time, it’s going to be even more FAB-U-LOUS!”

Every TV winner since the live tour began in 2008 has appeared on the tour from Tom Chambers, who won that year, to the most recent, Ellie Leach. The very first tour featured a mixture of contestants from the first five series, including series three winner Darren Gough. Other previous winners, including Jill Halfpenny and Mark Ramprakash also appeared on the tour several years after lifting the glitterball trophy.

The only winner since the tour launched not to take part is Bill Bailey, because the Covid pandemic meant it was scrapped in 2021. Those to have participated in recent years include Hamza Yassin, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Kelvin Fletcher, Stacey Dooley and Joe McFadden. Prior to them came Ore Oduba, Jay McGuinness, Caroline Flack, Abbey Clancy, Louis Smith, Harry Judd, Kara Tointon and Chris Hollins.

This morning Ladbrokes have Chris as the “runaway favourite” to win at 1/6, with Sarah Hadland the nearest challenger at 6/1, and Tasha Ghouri at 14/1. A spokesperson said: “Chris McCausland seems to be running away with the competition this year – punters only see one winner.”And William Hill agreed, commenting: “There’s no stopping Chris McCausland – the comedian seems to already have one hand on the glitterball trophy.