Dancers with sight loss back blind Strictly finalist

Dancers with sight loss say a blind contestant making the final of Strictly Come Dancing is a "proud moment" which they hope will inspire people to push beyond their own barriers.

Comedian Chris McCausland has secured his spot in this weekend's sparkling finale, alongside Love Island star Tasha Ghouri, actress Sarah Hadland and JLS singer JB Gill.

During the 12-week journey with professional dance partner Dianne Buswell, he said he hoped his efforts would "go some way in stretching people's ideas of what is possible for a person with disabilities".

Bethan Daniels, who began losing her sight due to Type 1 diabetes complications, said it was "massively inspirational and very motivating".

The 29-year-old dance teacher from Newport had to come to terms with losing her sight quite suddenly after burst blood vessels were found behind her eyes, and she has had seven surgeries so far.

"It was really hard. I struggled for a couple of months," she said.

"They originally thought my sight could be saved, but it's progressively got worse.

"But I'm stubborn, and I decided I wouldn't let it stop me."

Bethan began dancing at a young age, training in musical theatre and performing in London, as well as teaching ballet and tap.

"Whether you're teaching, or learning, or performing on a stage, you just get this buzz. It's like a fix, it keeps you going," she said.

"I always used to be a visual learner, I could watch choreography and pick it up.

"That's been taken away from me. Now it all has to be described to me, which is a whole new way of learning, but it's improved me as a dancer in other ways."

She said she had "incredible" people around her who helped her adapt.

Bethan added: "A lot of it for me has been muscle memory, I rely on that a lot.

"Teaching has been a really interesting one for me as well. I can demonstrate absolutely fine, but when they get stuck, I can't see to help them."

Bethan said that while she had been unable to see Chris McCausland dance herself, she had been pleased to hear his sight loss had not held him back.

"Everyone says you wouldn't be able to tell he was visually impaired. It also proves that just because you have any disability, you can still do stuff," she said.

Anum Munawar, 35, teaches Bollywood dance in Cardiff and says her love for it goes back to her childhood growing up in Malaysia.

"While my sister would put Bollywood movies on, I would dance to it," she said.

As a teenager, she choreographed and performed a routine at her sister's wedding.

"I think, from there, the passion for dancing really started," she said.

"I had a knack of picking up the lyrics of a song and choreographing to that."

Anum, who has cone-rod dystrophy (CORD) and colour blindness, first experienced sight loss at about eight years old, and her vision has deteriorated and changed at various points since.

"Sight loss is unique for different people but, for me, balance is quite an issue, depth perception, spatial awareness," she said.

"And in Bollywood dance, there is a lot of spinning."

Using her hands more, and keeping choreography "simple, but still graceful and with that essence of dance" are among the adaptations she has made.

She said Bollywood dancers were known for wearing bright colours, which she could not see, adding with a laugh: "My mum still picks out my costumes".

Anum said this year's Strictly "feels like a victory, whether or not Chris wins".

Kirsty James, from Caerphilly, rediscovered her love for dance following her sight deterioration.

The 35-year-old has a rare form of Stargardt's Syndrome and her sight loss started slowly, but has come in "big dips" over the years.

She studied performing arts at a college for visually impaired people, before going on to study dance at university.

"In my early twenties was when I woke up and my life did change. I had to adapt to a lot of things," she said.

"The confidence went in university then, when I was around people who were a lot higher level than me and I had to work so much harder. It took its toll on my confidence.

"I wasn't able to accept that I could no longer see and ask for help, I hid it a lot."

Kirsty took part in Strictly professional Amy Dowden's show Dare to Dance and said it was an "incredible experience" which helped her rekindle her love of dance.

"A part of my life that I shut the door on with such negativity and anger, turned into something so positive and beautiful. I still dance every week now and it's part of my identity," she said.

Kirsty said she hoped Strictly would help others with disabilities realise they could have hobbies.

Ansley Workman, director of charity RNIB Cymru, said the people she worked with would all be cheering Chris McCausland on in the final.

"His participation has shown that representation on screen is a powerful way to challenge people's ideas of what blind and partially-sighted people can and can't do," she said.