Chris McCausland is a heroic Strictly winner in a series struck by one controversy after another

The 20th anniversary run of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ has finally drawn to a close. Rachel McGrath looks back on an eventful series, from ‘hand-gate’ to Amy Dowden’s injury

There was one star everyone wanted to win Strictly Come Dancing. And on Saturday night, he did it. Chris McCausland, and his pro partner Dianne Buswell, took home the Glitterball trophy. The comedian’s victory is a moment that transcends the show itself and one that has given this controversial series of the BBC show a phenomenal, wholesome ending.

McCausland’s triumph, as a man who lost his sight at the age of 22, is a milestone that should certainly be celebrated (and I have no doubt the Strictly Class of 2024 will make sure the bubbly is flowing well into the early hours). But behind the scenes, I bet there’ll be some sighs of relief that this series is over.

This season was marred in scandal before the fake tan had even been unpacked, when two professionals left amid abuse allegations in the spring. Giovanni Pernice stepped down from the show as a long-running investigation into his behaviour towards 2023 partner Amanda Abbington continued (the BBC has since upheld some of the 17 complaints against him, but cleared him of the most serious ones). Then Graziano di Prima followed Pernice out of the door, after admitting to kicking his 2023 partner Zara McDermott during training.

When the series began, Strictly stuck to its royal-style “don’t complain, don’t explain” PR strategy, and made no acknowledgment of the behind-the-scenes sagas. But there wasn’t long to go until further controversies hit the show (these too, would go largely unmentioned on the programme itself).

Singer Toyah Willcox and Olympian Tom Dean found themselves in the unenviable position of being in the first dance-off. Despite Dean having scored a full 13 points more than the rocker across the first two weeks and – let’s be honest – shown a lot more promise, the judges voted to save Willcox. Cue hundreds of outraged tweets claiming favouritism was at play, as a dejected Dean admitted he was “gutted” and his clearly furious pro partner Nadiya Bychkova wrote on Instagram: “[Dean] will go on to bigger and better things.” It was hard not to feel bad for the Olympian, who certainly had a lot more to give in the competition. For their part, the judges just about redeemed themselves when they eliminated Willcox in the following week’s dance-off.

Just two weeks later, we had “hand-gate”. GoCompare man Wynne Evans had been thriving on the show, and unexpectedly impressing with his routines – but his Strictly journey hit a huge blip in week four. During a segment in the Clauditorium, Evans was caught on camera sliding his hand down partner Katya Jones’s waist, before she moved it back up with a tight smile.

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell during the live show (PA)

Another clip from the same episode appeared to show Jones dismissing Evans’s bid for a high five, then walking away seemingly annoyed. The footage (rightly) hit a nerve for many viewers, especially women who have seen and experienced this behaviour time and time again. Both videos went viral and sparked back-pedalling from Jones and Evans, who posted a somewhat bizarre apology video and insisted they were just joking around, before appearing on spinoff show It Takes Two to make the same protestations. The pair lasted another five weeks in the competition, but it’s fair to say things for them weren’t quite the same after the wandering hand saga.

The show was dealt another blow when Amy Dowden – who had only just returned after cancer treatment – was heartbreakingly forced to pull out of her triumphant comeback series due to a foot injury. For me, Dowden’s untimely exit was one of the low points of the series. It was such a joy to see her back on the show after an incredibly tough year and it would have been incredible to see her dancing with JB Gill in the final. Though it must be said, this situation appears to have been handled well. Lauren Oakley stepped in to dance with Gill, first on a temporary basis and then permanently. She has frequently voiced her gratitude to Dowden for how she taught the JLS singer and insisted she’s still part of their team.

And then there was Pete Wicks. Not since 2008, when John Sergeant dragged poor Kristina Rihanoff across the ballroom, has there been so much talk about a contestant’s lack of skills. While the journalist ultimately quit his series in mid-November of that year – citing the “real danger that I might win the competition” – TOWIE star Wicks soldiered on. As he explained in his VTs, the reformed lothario felt he owed it to viewers who had voted for him to keep dancing. Even if said dancing largely involved stomping around in hot pink PVC trousers and struggling with the footwork. Thankfully, we were spared another week of the discourse when Wicks finally ended up in the dance-off last week and exited the competition.

Winners Buswell and McCausland (BBC)

Going into Saturday night’s grand finale, statistically, it seemed as though anything could happen. Tasha Ghouri had been top of the leaderboard the most, but fell into the dance-off in the previous two weeks (despite Anton Du Beke later calling her the best celebrity dancer the show had ever seen). Meanwhile, Gill and Sarah Hadland had been hot on her heels. McCausland, it must be said, had been the lowest scorer of the bunch. But here’s the thing about Strictly: whatever anyone says, it’s about so much more than dancing.

McCausland’s stint on the show will rightly go down as one of the most magnificent in the show’s history. Booked to bring the laughs, he surprised the judges and the viewers alike by displaying a real aptitude for dancing (and incredible musicality) in the early episodes of the series. He then went from strength to strength, mastering tricky lifts that were only possible because Buswell truly trusted her partner. The judges had rightly vowed to critique him as they do every star, making no concessions for the fact he is blind. But as McCausland’s skills grew and grew, the gravity of his achievements were undeniable.

In Saturday night’s final, he reduced the panel to tears on multiple occasions and whatever happened, he would always be a winner. Thankfully, for once, the British public got the vote spot on. And when it comes to summing up McCausland’s Strictly journey, Motsi Mabuse explained it best. “You said in your VT, you’re a role model for the blind community,” she said. “But I think at this point, you’re a role model for us all.”