Strictly Come Dancing winner Chris McCausland has become the first BBC show champion to skip the programme’s UK tour in favour of his own career venture

Strictly Come Dancing’s Chris McCausland has become the first winner to skip the show’s UK tour, as he performed his own comedy show just miles away from the BBC dance show’s first night in Birmingham.

The 47-year-old comedian wowed audiences on Strictly Come Dancing as his pro partner, Dianne Buswell, helped him become the first blind contestant to win the Glitterball Trophy. While it is usual for the winner to then head the UK tour of Strictly, Chris has decided to continue his stand-up comedy tour rather than cancel dates to perform in the dance show.

Chris has explained previously: “I’m afraid I will not be able to do the Strictly tour. My own tour was meant to be on the road in September and a lot of dates were moved to Jan and Feb to accommodate doing #Strictly. It’s unfortunate as it’s been so much fun, but my own dates can’t be moved for a second time.”

As Strictly opened its tour in Birmingham, Chris was just miles away in the West Midlands, performing at the Walsall Arena, where the audience was lapping up his humour. In exclusive photos, Chris was seen smiling and confidently performing his stand-up set while dressed in a grey suit and white T-shirt.

Chris McCausland is the first Strictly winner to opt out of performing on the live tour ( 
Image:
JAMES CURLEY)

Dianne Buswell and Chris McCausland lift the Glitterball Trophy ( 
Image:
PA)

While Chris isn’t joining the tour, his dance partner Dianne is keeping a tradition going, which they started while starring on Strictly. Sharing a video on Instagram, Dianne is seen playing a game she used to play with Chris, ahead of the tour kick-off.

Chris would take different KitKats and get her to guess the flavour just by taste and smell. With Chris back on the road doing stand-up, Dianne stepped into Chris’ shoes and got her dad, Mark, to take the place of the guesser. Getting into the spirit, Chris jokingly said that she could expect to see him in court.

Chris McCausland went down a storm on stage ( 
Image:
JAMES CURLEY)Kicking off the video, Dianne explained: “I’m going to do Chris’ role, and you’re going to try and do what I would do, which is guess the flavour.” She then got her partner, Joe Sugg, 33, to model a ski suit, and revealed that the eye-catching look was up for grabs as a prize: “You’ll get a double pair for you and mum, and it’s state of the art – because that’s what Chris would always say.”

Unfortunately, Mark wasn’t as skilled at the game as Dianne and Chris, and it took multiple rounds of guessing and clues for him to figure out that the flavour was cookies and cream. Dianne offered all sorts of prizes, eventually landing on a flight back to Australia for her parents.

“TheChristmasspecial of guess the flavour ! Don’t worry production manager @chrismccauslandcomedy has given the all clear to go ahead with the episode without him ! Our special guest is the one and only MARK @mark.3802,” she captioned the video.

While Dianne joked in her caption that gamesmaster Chris had given permission for them to use his game, the comedian quickly snapped back in the comments: “Wow. I’m speaking to my lawyers. You must’ve really wanted him back on that flight to keep it going that long,” he joked alongside a laughing emoji.

“My dad makes me look like the Einstein of Kit Kat tasting!” Dianne responded.

With the first night of the Strictly tour under her belt, Dianna celebrated by posting a snap on her Instagram Story of her performing on stage. She captioned the snap: “Ok, that’s enough for tonight. Good night. Thank you to everybody who came to the show tonight and see you soon if you are coming along.”