Dianne Buswell fought back tears on Saturday evening as she paid tribute to her dance partner Chris McCausland during Musicals Week.
The professional dancer, aged 35, and the 47-year-old comedian, who is blind because of retinitis pigmentosa, amazed the audience with their Quickstep routine. They were joined on stage by other professional dancers.
The routine saw them dressed in nautical outfits and the backup dancers skipped and hopped around them as they commanded the stage.
The pair faced harsh criticism from the judges for their performance to the tune of “You’re The Top” from the musical Anything Goes. Despite the feedback, they received a total score of 32.
Following their performance, Dianne and her partner Chris had a chat with Claudia Winkleman, aged 52, backstage. Dianne seemed emotional, almost in tears, as she talked about Chris’s progress and development throughout the competition.
Claudia asked Chris: ‘How did you find it? And did you welcome the extra dancers?’
Dianne Buswell fought back tears on Saturday evening as she paid tribute to her dance partner Chris McCausland during Musicals Week
The professional dancer, 35, and the comedian, 47, who is blind due to retinitis pigmentosa, blew viewers away with their Quickstep performance
He responded with: ‘It feels good to dance. It’s joyful, you know? That was really fun. It’s been a good week doing it all.’
He added: ‘Having the extra dancers, it’s… I can’t see them around me, but it’s the idea of what it is around me. Especially because it feels like you’re bringing a proper show.’
Turning to his dance partner, Claudia asked: ‘Diane, you say he blew your mind this week?’
She began: ‘He did. You’ve just seen what he did there. I am so grateful for (the judge’s) constructive criticism -‘ as Chris interrupted to joke: ‘I’m not!’
Dianne looked emotional as she continued to praise the star, saying: ‘But you mustn’t forget, for 20 odd years, Chris’s safe space has been down here (looking at the floor).’
‘So for him to stand up and, it makes me quite emotional, because it is a big thing that we’ve overcome. And you’ve done so well!’
Viewers were touched by the exchange and took to X, formerly Twitter, to comment on Dianne’s tearful comments.
One remarked: ‘Dianne has made me emotional taking about how much chris has improved in the competition you can tell they have the best friendship and love seeing it on the dance floor each week.’
The routine saw them dressed in nautical outfits as backup dancers skipped and hopped around them as they commanded the stage
The duo received some sharp criticism from the judges for their performance to the sound of You’re The Top from Anything Goes and walked away with a combined score of 32
After their performance, Dianne looked close to tears as she discussed how much Chris has grown throughout the show so far
While another wrote: ‘Well, Chris and Dianne, that was amazing!!! #Strictly.’
However, some fans were fuming that the judges gave Chris and Dianne a low score compared to the other contestants.
One wrote: ‘Stop judging Chris on the same level as those who can see. He is INCREDIBLE and Dianne is a genius. That was a bloody 40 #strictly.’
Strictly returned to screens with its hotly-anticipated Musicals Week delighting viewers with a West End-themed night that tested contestants’ theatre skills.
On Saturday evening, professional dancers opened up the instalment with an incredible dance routine to Little Shop Of Horrors.
As six couples remained in the gruelling dance competition, fans can’t wait to find out who will be lifting the glitterball trophy.
The celebrities and their professional dance partners performed routines inspired by theatre classics such as Six, West Side Story and Wicked.
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola sent fans into a frenzy paying homage to the beloved musical Wicked, dancing a Charleston routine to Popular.
Montell Douglas and her pro partner Johannes Radebe performed an incredible Rumba to I’m Here from The Colour Purple, while Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Škorjanec embodied SIX with a sultry Argentine Tango to Ex-Wives.
Elsewhere JB Gill and pro Lauren Oakley took to a Viennese Waltz to Let’s Go Fly A Kite from the iconic Mary Poppins.
Showing off their skills, Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał performed a Waltz to Somewhere from West Side Story.
Strictly Come Dancing returned to screens with its hotly-anticipated Musicals Week delighting viewers with a West End-themed night that tested contestants’ theatre skills
Viewers of the hit BBC show have previously expressed concerns Montell and Johannes might be the next couple to get the chop.
The pair have been in the dance-offs more than any of the other couples in the competition.
For the past two weeks, the pair have been in the bottom two, surviving by the skin of their teeth after potential elimination against Wynne Evans and Katya Jones, and Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas.
Week seven also saw them in the bottom two but they were mercifully saved over Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin.
Reacting to their upcoming Rumba routine one fan on Reddit said: ‘I fear Montell has received the kiss of death.’
‘Worried for Montell with a rumba this late in the series and her being in the bottom 2 so many times,’ another wrote.
‘Montell supporters need to unite around her now,’ someone else added.
One viewer said their ‘heart dropped’ when they heard Montell would be dancing the Rumba, adding that their dream of seeing her dance the Charleston ‘is slipping away’.
Some tried to rally Montell fans to vote for her ‘like crazy’, while others called the Rumba assignment a ‘death sentence’.
Opinionated fans also didn’t seem to be too thrilled about Sarah and Vito’s performance to Wicked – claiming it gives them an ‘unfair advantage’.
Fans of the film production have been flocking to cinemas to watch the new film starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, but not all Strictly fans were happy about the nod to the famous musical.
Viewers believe that the Miranda star, 53, has an ‘unfair advantage’ because their song is more relevant than others.
Writing in an online forum, viewers complained that the show was fixing the results by allowing Sarah and her partner Vito to dance to the song, according to The Sun.
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola sent fans into a frenzy paying homage to the beloved musical Wicked, dancing a Charleston routine to Popular
Viewers of the hit BBC show have previously expressed concerns Montell and Johannes might be the next couple to get the chop
For the past two weeks, the pair have been in the bottom two, surviving by the skin of their teeth after potential elimination against Wynne Evans and Katya Jones, and Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas
One person wrote: ‘Seems particularly unfair that one person gets a dance everyone loves to a song that is extremely in the public eye at the moment, while someone else gets a dance the public can never be bothered with to a musical that is pretty unknown.’
While another added: ‘Top of the leader board will likely be Sarah.’
Others said: ‘Sarah and Vito get a Charleston and a tie in to Wicked – blimey! Popular indeed.’
Another viewer said their favourite dancer is being purposefully pushed out of the competition.
They commented: ‘The BBC are so obvious with who they want out. I mean, this is practically a ‘tell me you want Montell out without actually telling me’ situation.
And another chimed in, writing: ‘It’s ludicrous to give a rumba on Musicals week to a contestant who’s been in the bottom three times?
‘I see you Strictly producers, I see you. Montell deserves better! I would’ve loved to have seen a Charleston from team Jojo this week!’
‘They stitched up Shayne and now they’re stitching up Montell.’
‘The difference though is that Montell is too good to leave this early. She should be a finalist! I’m fuming!’
Meanwhile, Sunday’s episode will see an incredible live performance from the West End cast of Hamilton.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and is available to stream exclusively on iPlayer.
