Chris McCausland warns about 'having words' with Strictly bosses over 'horrible' line-up issue

The comedian danced first last week and doesn't want to do it again

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Chris McCausland made it through Halloween week. (BBC)

Strictly's Chris McCausland has said it was "horrible" dancing first on the BBC show and joked he would be "having words" with bosses if it happened again.

The comedian — who is making history as the first blind contestant on the ballroom show — was the first celeb onto the dancefloor on Saturday, performing a Samba to the Bee Gees' Stayin’ Alive with his pro partner Dianne Buswell. But he has admitted that it left him in a "panic" and that his mind went "blank".

"My routine went out of the window!" he said on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two.

McCausland was on the programme on Monday, 28 October and told host Fleur East that being the first star to dance meant he missed out on his usual pre-show run through.

"It was horrible," he said. "I won't lie, I didn't like going on first. And if they put me on first again we are going to be having words!"

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell on It Takes Two. (BBC screengrab)
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell on It Takes Two. (BBC screengrab)

"My routine went out of the window. I don't know if people realise at home what happens, but you get to go, before you go on, just go and have a little run through of your dance in the little training space and then you go out and do the dance.

"When you are on first you don't get any of that, you just have to be in a queue, and when you are in a queue, you think. And the more I thought the more I realised, I don’t know this dance! I had a panic and a mind blank."

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Turning to Buswell, he added: "I made you nervous." Laughing, she admitted: "Yes, he was telling me right before we went on, 'I don't remember it Di, I just don't remember it'. I said, 'Yes you do, your body knows what to do, trust yourself'."

McCausland and Buswell scored 26 out of 40 for their Samba, a significant drop from the 35 out of 40 they received the week before, and head judge Shirley Ballas told him he had “overcooked the bounce”.

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Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell on the dancefloor. (BBC)

The star explained that he "overcompensated with enthusiasm". "Basically you are not allowed to be enthusiastic doing the Samba," he quipped. "You are not allowed to have fun. I had too much fun and I got penalised for it."

Strictly: It Takes Two airs on BBC Two at 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC One at 6.25pm on Saturday.