Strictly Come Dancing fans were left seething over Chris McCausland's scores last night, with viewers branding the judges 'disgraceful' and 'insulting'.
The comedian and his dance partner Dianne Buswell ended Saturday night's live show with their Couple's Choice routine to Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon. The performance was a nod to Chris' blindness, with the 47-year-old losing his sight gradually in his 20s due to a rare hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa.
During their routine, Chris put his hands over Buswell's eyes while the room faded to black. As the lights came back, moments later, Chris was sensationally spinning Buswell around on his shoulders, as pyrotechnics went off behind them. Dianne whispered how proud she was of Chris, with the star defying expectations week after week.
They were scored 33 out of a possible 40 from the judges, with Craig Revel Horwood describing it as "absolutely spectacular". But while the judges loved the "poignant blackout moment", they were still not as impressed by Chris' technical skills, leaving viewers furious with their scoring.
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BBC/Guy Levy)Head judge Shirley Ballas told the comedian, who is the BBC programmes first ever blind contestant that every week, he enters the dancefloor "with your heart on your sleeve, and you give us 100%". But despite their praises, fans wanted more for Chris, with one branding their scores an "insult".
Taking to X, one viewer raged: "7? Oh do f*** off Craig! That was absolutely bloody brilliant. The man can’t see. I trip over fresh air, yet there is Chris lifting Dianne and spinning her, and he’s getting a 7? It’s bloody ridiculous." Another fumed: "Those scores were a disgrace. This man is INCREDIBLE!!! Each week I'm in total awe of him. It makes me sad that he'll never get a 10 because in the judges eyes he'll never be 'perfect'. Chris & Dianne deserved so much more tonight."
A third fan furiously added: "Had anyone else done Chris’ exact dance it would’ve been scored higher. Now add that he’s blind, he had really impressive lifts and spins that are extremely hard cause he can’t spot AND it was symbolic of his life. Those scores were an insult to how hard he has worked #strictly." A fan challenged the judges to dance like Chris, saying: "Next week I want all four judges blindfolded, paired together and made to dance that routine and we can all sit back and laugh at them stumbling around. They just refuse to get it don’t they?"
Chris was a student at the Royal National College for the Blind, in Hereford, where current students believe he's an inspiration. One told the BBC : "Some people think that people that have visual impairments can't really do anything or can't do much with their life beside piano tuning. He's doing so well now, it's quite surreal but it's really good, especially for those who don't know anything about the eye."
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