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'Chris McCausland is proof you can do anything'

BBC Comedian Chris McCausland and dancer Diane Buswell, a woman with long dyed red hair, perform a dance routine wearing white suits.BBC
Chris McCausland has been crowned the winner of the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing

In the mid-1990s, Chris McCausland was a student at Hereford's Royal National College for the Blind (RNC).

Now, 30 years later, with a successful stand-up comedy career under his belt he has also landed the glitterball trophy as the latest winner of Strictly Come Dancing, made even sweeter by being the competition's first blind contestant.

The RNC's executive principle, Lucy Proctor, described as extraordinary his journey with dance partner Diane Buswell to the champion spot.

"Chris [said that] with support and with opportunity and with determination, you can do anything," she said. "And he's proved that beyond any doubt whatsoever."

A woman with shoulder-length brown-grey hair and wearing a green jacket stands in front of a glass-fronted building labelled "RNC Learning Hub"
The RNC's Lucy Proctor said McCausland showed that people with sight loss are just as capable as sighted people

Throughout the series McCausland, 47, has been praised for defying expectations of what a blind person can achieve on the dancefloor.

A notable moment came with a routine performed partially in darkness to convey his experience of blindness to viewers.

Ms Proctor hopes his success is an inspiration to current RNC students.

She said that while they often have dreams and ambitions, they are not given the same opportunities as sighted people.

"We... work with them to get the barriers out of the way," she said.

"But all the rest of it is down to them. It's their determination, it's their hard work."

PA Media Comedian Chris McCausland, wearing a black shirt and powder blue jacket, smiles at someone or something off-camera.PA Media
McCausland was Strictly's first blind contestant

Ms Proctor also wants McCausland's success to show employers that visually-impaired people are just as capable as sighted people.

"[People with sight loss] want other people to have that confidence in them, and give them that opportunity," she said.

"They really do need other people to stop thinking about what they can't do and start talking to them about what they can do."

BBC/PA Comedian Chris McCausland, wearing an open-necked white shirt and a pink jacket, holds the waist of dancer Diane Buswell, who has long dyed bright red hair and who is wearing a brightly-coloured sparkly leotard, in a promotional shot.BBC/PA
McCausland was partnered with professional Diane Buswell for the series

She, and the students, would "absolutely love it" if one of their most famous alumnus came back for a visit, Ms Proctor added.

"So many of them were fans of his before Strictly, just through his work as a comedian," she said.

"But having said that, I'm not sure he's going to have time to do much in the next couple of years. I suspect his diary's going to be very, very full.

"And rightly so."

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