Strictly’s Chris McCausland Reveals ‘I Can’t Feel My Legs’ Days Before Live Show
Comedian and Strictly Come Dancing star Chris McCausland made viewers laugh when he appeared on This Morning and confessed, “I can’t feel my legs, it’s killing me.” McCausland, who is struggling with the fast-paced jive routine for this week’s live show, shared his humorous yet honest take on the physically demanding dance.
Appearing alongside his professional dance partner, Dianne Buswell, on the ITV daytime show, Chris admitted that learning the jive had been particularly challenging. The duo was interviewed by hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard, who praised Chris for his efforts and good humor. When Ben asked what they were working on for the upcoming show, Dianne quickly replied, “It’s a jive, so it’s very fast.” Chris added, “It’s taking a toll on my body.”
Chris, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at age 22—a hereditary condition that causes progressive vision loss—described how mentally draining the Strictly experience has been. As someone who cannot see, he relies on listening to instructions and physically feeling what Dianne’s feet are doing to learn the moves. “There’s a lot of description, and sometimes I have to get onto my hands and knees to feel what her feet are doing,” Chris explained.
In typical comedic fashion, Chris joked about the physicality of the dance training, saying, “She [Dianne] has got muscles in her legs that I didn’t even know existed. Sometimes she gets on her hands and knees and just picks my leg up and puts it where she wants. It’s like I’m one of those bendy Spider-Man figures.”
He went on to humorously describe the challenge of coordinating his movements. “It’s difficult to tell my arms what to do while I’m trying to focus on my legs. It’s like I have a little junction box in my body, and it can only send instructions to one place at a time—either my legs or my arms,” Chris joked, adding, “If it goes to my legs, my arms are just flopping around.”
Despite the challenges, Dianne reassured viewers that they were making progress, saying, “Yeah, but we’re getting there, aren’t we?” To which Chris quipped, “But every week we start from scratch. I can’t feel my legs, they are killing me.”
Chris also shared a lighthearted moment about his daughter’s initial reaction to him joining Strictly, revealing that she had been worried he would hurt himself. “Even my daughter said to me, ‘No, daddy, you’ll fall off the stage and break your leg,'” causing laughter around the studio.
Despite the physical and mental hurdles, Chris continues to approach his Strictly journey with humor and determination.