Although some Strictly Come Dancing fans may have had their doubts about this year’s line-up (us included, to be perfectly honest!), it’s fair to say the first live show of the series was a huge success.
But while it was JB Gill, Tasha Ghouri and Sarah Hadland who landed the top scores on Saturday night, comedian Chris McCausland delivered the moment of the night.
The stand-up comic is making history as the first ever blind contestant to take part in Strictly in its 20-year history.
After winning over viewers with his hilarious asides during Strictly’s pre-recorded launch earlier in the month, this weekend saw him performing live for the first time with a routine we’re not likely to forget in a hurry.
Paying homage to his Liverpool roots, Chris performed a Cha Cha to The Beatles classic Twist And Shout, proving he has the moves as well as the chat.
If you’ve still not seen Chris’ debut performance – which included a seriously impressive lift, and the second instance in recent memory of Dianne Buswell turning her leg into a musical instrument – we insist you give it a watch for yourself below:
Shirley Ballas told Chris his performance had left her “quite shocked and very emotional”, while Anton Du Beke agreed it was “one of the most incredible things I’ve seen in my entire life, just brilliant”.
Craig Revel Horwood, naturally, had a few pointers, to which the comedian joked: “I’m too knackered to care, mate, give me whatever score what you want.”
“You can say what you want, I am not fussed. I’ll drive you home tonight,” he added, to huge laughs from the audience.
And the laughs kept coming once Chris made it back to Claudia Winkleman’s “clauditorium”.
Revealing Dianne accidentally kicked him during a rehearsal, he quipped: “If there was any doubt that I had more sight than I was letting on – I did not avoid or anticipate it. I took a foot right in the face.”
“It’s like someone’s just sucked all the fun out of dancing and replaced it with terms and conditions,” he added, referring to Strictly’s strict techniques, while also claiming: “It took me two weeks to do it with my mouth shut.”
As is always the case, no one was eliminated after this week’s Strictly live show.
Instead, the celebs’ scores will be rolled over to next week, where they’ll be combined with the next round of scores and viewers’ votes to determine who winds up in the bottom two.