Last year’s Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland has shared his unusual connection to one of this year’s stars of the BBC show, as Dianne Buswell opens up on her “sadness.”
After admitting that he originally expected to last just a matter of weeks when he was competing in last year’s show, the Liverpool-born stand-up comedian managed to defy the odds and dance all the way to the final before clinching the Glitterball trophy alongside his partner Dianne Buswell.
However, as the newest series kicked off last weekend (Saturday 27 September), Chris revealed how he actually used to live just doors away from Karen Carney who was seen taking her place on the show alongside Carlos Gu.
Chatting to Chris Evans and Rob Brydon in a clip posted by Virgin Radio on YouTube, the comedian explained how he had been neighbours with the former Lionesses captain, saying: “Weirdly I know Karen because we used to live next door to each other and I met her during lockdown.”
Naming her as his pick to win this year’s show, he jokingly added: “I’d love her to win, because imagine having two consecutive winners that came from the same street.”
Meanwhile, as Chris shared his unusual connection to the former England and Chelsea women’s player, it was also revealed that it’s not the only link they share.
During a recent episode of their joint Winning Isn’t Everything podcast, Dianne told Chris: “Guess what? Karen Carney’s dancing in our old studio, Chris, and whenever she makes a video, it makes me so sad.”
Reflecting on her memories of the space, she explained why she feels particularly nostalgic: “Oh, and that little lunchtime scenario that we had going on was gorgeous. They’d bring it straight up to us.”
It was a dream start for Karen on the Strictly dancefloor, as she walked away with the highest score of the night in week one. Finishing in top spot, Karen and Carlos earned 31 points after the judges awarded them three sevens and an eight.
After the long-awaited return of the beloved dance competition last Saturday, the show hasn’t had the smoothest start, with two original contestants already forced to withdraw.
First to announce that they would be pulling out of the race to win this year’s show was Kristian Nairn, who said that his departure was a result of “unexpected medical reasons.” The second to announce their premature departure was former Love Islander Dani Dyer who was ruled out of the show after it emerged that she had fractured her ankle.