Strictly’s Chris McCausland admits he was ‘down’ after thinking he made huge mistake during Saturday’s show

Comedian paid tribute to KISS in routine during Saturday night’s show

Chris McCausland has reflected on feeling down after believing he made a huge mistake during his Strictly Come Dancing performance during Saturday night’s show.

The comedian and his professional partner Dianne Buswell received a score of 29 for their Tango to “Rock and Roll All Nite” by KISS, but McCausland believed he had made a big mistake during the routine.

During Sunday night’s results show, which had been filmed on Saturday, McCausland and Buswell were saved from the dance-off despite being bottom of the leaderboard.

When asked by host Claudia Winkleman about how he was feeling during an interview segment, McCausland said he was “trying my best” but seemed dejected despite receiving the welcome news he was still in the competition.

Writing on X/Twitter after the interview aired, the comedian confessed he was feeling “down” on himself after thinking he had made a mistake during the routine.

“If I’m honest, I was quite down on myself in that interview clip straight after the dance that was on the results show tonight because I thought I had made a pretty big mistake,” he told fans on Sunday (3 November).

However, McCausland said he was feeling better when he realised he hadn’t made a mistake.

“I realised later that I hadn’t. I’m feeling good,” he said. “Thank you for all of your support!”

Chris McCausland performing a Tango in tribute to KISS (BBC/Guy Levy)

One fan reassured McCausland that fans love watching him dance each week, and that he gave a brilliant performance on Saturday night.

“Chris, you’re doing amazing and we love watching you dance. Don’t be so hard on yourself,” one fan said.

“I think you don’t realise how good you are. Believe it, you really are sooo good,” said another fan, as one added: “Please don’t give yourself a hard time – you are doing absolutely INCREDIBLE work and are genuinely indistinguishable from the other dancers.”

Saturday’s episode saw the dance couples compete in the first ever Icons Week, dancing to songs by legendary musical acts such as The Beatles, George Michael, Bruno Mars, Queen, Madonna and Shirley Bassey.

The episode featured a very high standard of dances with the top scores of the week going to Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec and JB Gill and his replacement partner Lauren Oakley, who stepped in for the ill Amy Dowden, with both couples scoring 39 points each.

Diane Buswell and Chris McCausland on ‘Strictly’ (BBC/Guy Levy)

In the dance-off were hockey player Sam Quek and her partner Nikita Kuzmin, who danced an American Smooth to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”, opposite  Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe, who performed their Waltz to “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston.

Ultimately, Quek was eliminated after a unanimous judges’ vote.

Her elimination follows the exit of Dr Punam Krishan, footballer Paul Merson, Toyah Willcox, Nick Knowles and Tom Dean, who all left the competition in its earlier stages.