BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Chris McCausland addresses 'sympathy' vote and jokes of 'dance prison'

Chris McCausland wasn't sure Strictly Come Dancing would be "worth the risk" as he also addressed people who claim he has been given a 'sympathy' vote during the competition.

The 47-year-old blind comedian has said he is "very proud" to have made the final of the BBC One dance contest alongside his professional partner Dianne Buswell because he was keen to "represent in a positive way" but he was initially concerned about the message it would have sent out if he had proven to be a "terrible" dancer.

Writing in his weekly column for The Telegraph newspaper, Chris reflected: "I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved and how it’s been received, and just the effect that it seems to have had on people’s attitudes towards disability. We’ve had so many lovely messages. And that’s the whole point of being on this show for me – to represent in a positive way, not in a sob-story way.

READ MORE: ITV I'm A Celebrity's Coleen Rooney 'overwhelmed' as she addresses jungle stint for first time amid reunion plans

"If I’m honest, I didn’t know whether 'Strictly' was worth the risk, because I didn’t know if it was achievable. If I’d been terrible, it would have been no good for anybody – all it would have proved is that somebody with a disability can’t compete. But, with my amazing teacher Dianne by my side, we’ve managed it."

And Chris feels he has earned his place in the final and not just been put through on the "sympathy" vote. He said: "We’ve also made it to the finish line without ever once having less points than the person eliminated, so I don’t feel like we’ve been kept in on sympathy. I’m proud that we’ve deserved our place each week."

As well as his friendship with Dianne, Chris has grown close to a number of the other male contestants from this year. He admitted: "Paul [Merson] and Nick [Knowles] have been supporting me from the sidelines and Pete [Wicks] has become like a brother to me. We’ve promised we’ll go for a slap-up meal together once we’re out of dance prison."

After 13 weeks, just four couples remain in the BBC One dance contest, and only one will be lifting the coveted Glitterball trophy on Saturday (December 14) during the last week of the 2024 run of the competition.

As well as Chris and Dianne, Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola, JB Gill and Lauren Oakley and Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec will compete in the final of Strictly's 20th-anniversary series but only one can be crowned champions after performing three dances each - their favourite dance of the series, the judge’s pick and a spectacular show dance.