Strictly: Blind dancer shares hopes for dance with Amy Dowden
BBC Breakfast hosts Ben Boulos and Rachel Burden discussed Strictly Come Dancing on today’s programme, following the memorable black-out during Chris McCausland’s performance on last night’s show. The comedian, who is blind, included a moment of darkness in his and Dianne Buswell’s Couple's Choice routine to John Lennon’s Instant Karma to give audiences a glimpse into his world.
On the show this morning, Rachel and Ben marvelled at the impact Chris has made so far in changing the public’s perception of what blind and partially-sighted people can achieve. The pair welcomed blind dancer Shaun Hayward and his guide dog Kevin to the studio to speak more about changing attitudes towards those with sight problems.
He praised the recent inclusion of a ‘detailed’ audio description for shows like Strictly and spoke about the benefits of taking on dance as a blind or partially-sighted person. During the programme, the dancer also pointed out that people with disabilities can often be underestimated, explaining: “I’m Shaun, who’s blind. I’m not that blind guy… ‘Oh, and he’s called Shaun.’”
However, Shaun also took the time during the programme to honour professional dancer Amy Dowden, who recently had to pull out of Strictly Come Dancing due to injury. Amy, who had been paired up with JLS star J.B. Gill, had to give up on her dreams of lifting the glitterball trophy after sustaining a stress fracture to her shin.
It comes after Amy has suffered from a string of serious health woes, including stage three breast cancer, from which she is now recovering, and her long-standing battle with Crohn's disease. During his chat with Rachel and Ben, Shaun suddenly took the opportunity to put out a request to Amy live on BBC Breakfast.
He said: “Personally, while I’ve got the air-time, I would love to do a performance with Amy Dowden.
“That is my dream, because I got diagnosed with IBD last year and I’ve been hospitalised four times this year with flare-ups and blood clots and stuff… And I really understand the depth of that condition now.
“I’ve only got back dancing and I just think that, maybe if Amy sees this and next year we can get together and do a dance around Crohn’s and everything that she’s been through and everything I’ve been through with my sight as well, I think we could create something really special.”
Rachel added: “Hopefully she’s watching this morning. She’s been on this show with us not too long ago.”
“She’s a beautiful human being,” Shaun stated, as Rachel added: “We wish her all the best.”
Last night on Strictly Come Dancing, Amy’s former partner J.B. made her proud as he topped the leaderboard once more with stand-in partner Lauren Oakley.
Love Island's Tasha Ghouri and Aljaz Skorjanec also once again ranked at the top of the leaderboard, with both pairs impressing the judges to earn 37 out of a possible 40 points.
Strictly Come Dancing's results show airs at 7.20pm on Sunday, November 10.
BBC Breakfast airs every day from 6am on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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