Dianne Buswell has hit back at a Strictly Come Dancing viewer who claimed the only reason Chris McCausland hasn’t been voted out yet is because he’s blind.

The professional dancer, 35, and the comedian, 47, who is blind due to retinitis pigmentosa, are through to the semi-finals after surviving musicals week.

Dianne took issue with one fan of the BBC show who thought Chris was getting the sympathy vote.

In a post on X seen by The Sun, they wrote: He’s only through because he’s blind.’

Responding to the post, she wrote: ‘He absolutely is not!’

On last Saturday’s show, Dianne defended Chris after judge Craig Revel Horwood criticised his posture during their performance.

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Dianne Buswell has hit back at a Strictly Come Dancing viewer who claimed the only reason Chris McCausland hasn’t been voted out yet is because he’s blind

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In a post on X seen by The Sun, a viewer wrote: He’s only through because he’s blind.’ Responding to the post, Dianne wrote: ‘He absolutely is not!’

She said: ‘We mustn’t forget that for 20-odd years Chris’s safe space has been down here, so for him to stand up actually makes me quite emotional.

‘It’s a big thing that we’ve overcome, and you’ve done so well.’

Taking to X himself after the public vote, Chris said he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the support he has received from the public.

He wrote: ‘We’ve only gone and reached the bloody #Strictly semi-final! I am so proud of what we have achieved.

‘We have always challenged ourselves and given 100%. Thank you for all of your votes and support. It’s honestly overwhelming. Lots of love X’.

Meanwhile, former Strictly pro dancer Brendan Cole has also given his thoughts on the judges’ scores ahead of the semi-final.

On last week’s show, Gladiators star Montell Douglas was sent home after she landed in the bottom two alongside Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri.

This was despite Montell getting the same score from the judges as Chris, who was kept safe by the public.

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The professional dancer, 35, and the comedian, 47, who is blind due to retinitis pigmentosa, are through to the semi-finals after surviving musicals week

Taking to X himself after the public vote, Chris said he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the support he has received from the public

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On last week’s show, Gladiators star Montell Douglas was sent home after she landed in the bottom two alongside Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri

Speaking to The Sun, Brendan said: ‘The nine (that Chris McCausland got) from Anton (Du Beke) was outrageous.

‘He’s supposed to be all about ballroom, but you can easily, as a judge, be swept up in the moment.

‘You can be swept up in the euphoria. Essentially, he’s (Anton) saying, by giving Chris a nine – who was probably the worst on the night in terms of dancing – that he was the same as what everybody else was.

‘It’s not fair in terms of the positioning on the leaderboard. If you’re giving an extra mark because you’ve just got swept up in the euphoria, that could mean somebody else finds themselves in the bottom two, that otherwise wouldn’t be there if they marked it correctly.’