Strictly Come Dancing fans praising ‘genius’ move as BBC series returns-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro

Strictly came back to our TV screens on Saturday (Picture: BBC)

Ahhhh, it feels good to have Strictly Come Dancing on our screens again, doesn’t it?

The long-running and always reliable BBC dancing competition returned for its 22nd season on Saturday night as 15 famous faces met their dance partners for the first time.

Paul Merson was told that he and Karen Hauer would be dancing to Fat Les’ Vindaloo in week one (because of course), Craig Revel Horwood revealed a dramatic and dashing new look, and, most importantly, the incredible Amy Dowden returned to the Strictly line-up.

But among the glitz and glamour and excitement, it was comedy that cut through to the viewers at home, with some calling the move to put Chris McCausland in the show, ‘genius’.

The British comedian and actor, 47, will dance with fan-favourite professional Dianne Buswell in a bid to become the first-ever blind winner of the Glitterball Trophy.

But before the dancing got underway, Chris had the live audience and viewers at home in stitches as he used his stand-up skills to provide a run of hilarious jokes.

Chris McCausland has gone down a storm with viewers at home (Picture: BBC)

Chris, who has appeared on Have I Got News for You, Not Going Out, and other BBC comedies, went blind at age 22 after suffering from Retinitis pigmentosa. He’d already joked that he’d ‘never seen‘ Strictly before.

And during Saturday’s live episode, his self-deprecating humour shone through, as he commented: ‘I may as well get the jokes out now because I’m only here for three weeks.’

Later, as Dr Punam Krishnan was talking about joining the show and dancing with partner Gorka Márquez, Chris jumped in and joked: ‘Can I just say, None of us can believe we managed to get in the same room as a GP.’

The comment had the cast in stitches and fans loved this hilarious moment, praising the comedian on social media.

Chris is one of the 15 dancers vying for the trophy (Picture: BBC/Kieron McCarron)

The comedian is aiming to become the first blind winner of the series (Picture: BBC Studios/Ray Burmiston)

Fans are hoping Chris will be the next comedian to hold the Glitterball Trophy (Picture: PA)

On X, Mano Billi said that Strictly should decide on its winner 15 weeks early thanks to Chris’ opening night performance: ‘Chris McCausland should win the glitter ball for [the GP joke] alone.’

Meanwhile, KDCunliffe praised the BBC for picking the Cbeebies star to join the line-up: ‘Whoever’s idea it was to try and get Chris McCausland on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing – all I can say is, it was a stroke of absolute genius!’

ArtsandGrafts said that she wanted him to go all the way in this year’s competition: ‘Chris McCausland is so naturally hilarious, I really hope he wins Strictly.’

LaureLexx concurred: ‘Oh it’s so good seeing how much Chris McCausland is already killing it on strictly. Funny funny man.’

Viewers were in stitches at home (Picture: Ray Burmiston/PA Wire)

It was an emotional night on Saturday as Amy Dowden returned to the series with an ’empowering routine’ after undergoing extensive and tough treatment for breast cancer.

Amy was missing from last year’s competition after being diagnosed in the spring of 2023 – she underwent a significant period of chemotherapy that limited her to sporadic dance appearances last year.

She appeared as part of the group dance at the beginning of the show before it was announced later on that she would be partnering with former JLS singer JB Gill.

Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC and iPlayer.

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