Strictly's Chris McCausland opens up on missing tour as he shares 'emotional toll'

Chris McCausland has broken his silence over missing the Strictly Come Dancing live tour.

During a live interview with stand-in presenter Ranvir Singh on Lorraine, he admitted it had been an emotional few days since winning, as he revealed why he wouldn't be on the tour.

He explained: "It's been a really emotional Saturday night and I'm still feeling quite worn down by it. It's been three and a half months; it's relentless. It's consuming - physically and mentally it takes a toll. This is what the show does, it wears you down physically and mentally and then it pokes you with a stick until you cry in front of everybody."

Chris then quipped that no one had thought he would make it so far into the competition, hence no plans were made to change the dates for his stand-up tour. The Strictly winner had started his tour in January, but put it on hold to compete on the show.

"I started my tour in January this year and I did the first leg until May and I was meant to be back out in September. We moved the dates to accommodate Strictly, so we just moved them to January," he said.

"We had to move these dates to accommodate Strictly and it just wasn't a consideration at the time... I don't think anybody thought I would be any good at it. I don't think they thought it, I don't think I thought it. And in terms of going on tour in January, I didn't think I'd be going on tour on the back of Strictly. I thought I'd have about two months off."

Chris McCausland's dance partner, Strictly professional Dianne Buswell, recently shared a heartfelt social media tribute to him after their big win. She wrote: "From the man who said to me weekly, 'Di, I'm just a 47-year-old comedian who signed the wrong paper', to the winner of strictly come dancing 2024. Chris started this show not having any idea at ALL about any of it!

"I wasn't just teaching Chris the dances I was explaining everything that was also going on around us and as you know there's a lot that goes on visually with strictly. it blew my mind even more when I actually started to explain things out loud I had so much more appreciation for everything . My teaching style was 90 percent visual I wouldn't want to teach in a room without mirrors because it was the way I perfected things . With Chris we had to find different ways of making it work."

She further added: "And this is what Chris is brilliant at he is a problem solver and he taught me to think outside the box . Just because there's an obstacle in the way doesn't mean you can't get to the destination successfully. I am forever grateful for the friendship I have gained in such an incredible person he says I changed his life but like wise I see things in a different way now and I'm forever grateful."

Lorraine airs on ITV1 and ITVX at 9am every weekday.