close
close
awsum

Chris McCausland loses the Glitterball trophy

Neon
Chris McCausland loses the Glitterball trophy


Dianne Buswell and Chris McCausland appearing on the live show of BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday
So far Chris has been the heavy favorite to win this series, and rightly so (Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

Chris McCausland the best thing that could happen to you Definitely Come Dance.

Before the series’ first live show, it was admittedly not on my radar as one to watch, which in hindsight I think was a pretty embarrassing misfire.

Chris is the first blind contestant in Strictly’s 20-year history but no one could have predicted how magical watching the comedian effortlessly twirl his partner would be. Danna Buswell We perform tricks on the dance floor that few of us would dare to try.

I love it and so do the public. She’s the contestant I look forward to watching every week so far; I know full well it will either bring tears to my eyes or leave me sobbing in my Deliveroo.

But after Icons Week, I’m afraid she’s losing her grip on the Glitterball trophy, and there’s another contestant I’m more excited to watch for the first time in this series.

Sarah Hadland may have delivered one of my favorite Strictly Come Dancing performances of all time last Saturday, from Cha Cha to Like A Prayer.

In fact, he was dressed like this: madonna This is basically catnip for gays like me, so I was sold before she even took her first step, but I was mesmerized from the moment she jumped off a five-foot platform completely carefree into Vito Coppola’s arms.

The first performance of the series, which I watched over and over again and was impressed by something new each time. Vito tossed Sarah around like a disused ragdoll with perfect posture, her feet moving with lightning precision, and it was the most electric routine yet and – I say this as someone with zero expertise – definitely the hardest routine of the series so far. It was so good I barely noticed Vito was wearing latex pants, which is kind of a bad thing.


Sarah Hadland during her Strictly Come Dancing performance last Saturday
Sarah Hadland gave one of my favorite performances of all time (Image: BBC/Guy Levy)

The judges agreed, giving Sarah three nines and a 10, which still feels like a criminal underscore.

Tonight, Miranda will dance for her fans and perform the song American Smooth to Heather Small’s Proud, which her character Stevie will spontaneously sing throughout the series.

I’m not a fan of Miranda, but it was hard to escape the excitement of fans who found Stevie’s lively, laugh-out-loud, love humor much funnier than I did on social media.

Sorry, this video is no longer available.

But you don’t have to be a fan of Miranda for Sarah to completely surprise you. In fact, my internalized Mirandaphobia meant that I didn’t give Sarah the attention she deserved until the last few weeks, but I admit I was the fool who passed up the opportunity.

The best The absolute winners are always those who have been through the greatest journey, those who did not start off in the best way. You might see them at a wedding and joke ‘I kept these moves a secret’, but you wouldn’t force them to sign up for a ballroom dancing competition.

Let’s face it, Sarah started out stronger than a drunken wedding guest, but by the time she performs the 9 to 5 Quick Step in week one, she’s now an almost unknown dancer. Even then, he was fun, full of energy, and definitely had the potential to be one to watch.

But her Cha Cha last week was full of sass, skill and sexiness. I’m not even sure Sarah knew she had something like this seven weeks ago. There is now a confidence that, as long as it is not broken, will see Sarah improve tenfold each week and progress to the final to take home the Glitter Ball trophy.

So far Chris has been the favorite to win this series, and rightly so. She has achieved more in one week of Strictly than most contestants could dream of, completely changing the blind community’s perception of what they can do in a Cha Cha.


Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell during their performance on the live show of Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday, October 12, 2024
Chris will always be the heart of this year’s Strictly for so many reasons (Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)

The following week, Chris moved me and many others to tears with his Foxtrot because watching Chris dance — and I realize how extreme that sounds — felt like watching a miracle. I still can’t understand how, despite her views, she manages to be one of the strongest dancers week in and week out and her partnership with Dianne Buswell feels like the stuff of a ’90s buddy movie.

Chris will always be the heart of this year for so many reasons, but his competition is looming and indeed Sarah suddenly emerges as the worthy winner.

Tasha Ghouri She’s clearly the most accomplished dancer and I’m not part of the camp that likes to whine about ‘previous dance experience’ but I want to root for an underdog and that’s not Tasha.

Rightly or wrongly, Wynne has dropped out of the race after his bizarre ‘prank’ of touching Katya Jones apparently went the wrong way and JB Gill danced better while on the X Factor.

In an ideal world, Montell Douglas would deservedly make it to the finale alongside Chris and Sarah, but as we saw this week in the United States, the public often can’t be trusted to vote. And if reports are to be believed, this series will be Johannes Radebe’s last and he deserves to be in the finale with one of his best partners ever.

I can’t see anyone else stepping up and suddenly coming close to winning at this stage, but just a week ago I could never have imagined anyone other than Chris lifting that Shiny Ball trophy. Unfortunately, she’s inching closer to the bottom of the leaderboard, and while she’s still an absolute gift to Strictly, Sarah is becoming a little more of a reason to be excited.

Now I can go even further and say that this contest belongs to Sarah and I don’t see anyone standing in her way.

Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 6.35pm on BBC One.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].

Share your opinions in the comments below.

MORE : 2024 star secretly broke up with girlfriend just weeks after show started

MORE : I loved Josh from The West Wing – he got the better of me 25 years later

MORE : Absolutely legendary, ‘could make millions and become global sensation’ with side project

Related Posts