Yahoo News Chris McCausland says stand-up tour will be 'a doddle' after Strictly
The comedian won Strictly Come Dancing 2024 and told Lorraine he was looking forward to only having to work 'an hour and a half a day' after months of training.
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Chris McCausland has said he expects his stand-up tour to be "a doddle" after the demands of training for Strictly Come Dancing.
The comedian won the BBC series at the weekend and told Lorraine on Monday morning that he was looking forward to only having to work for an hour and a half each day when he resumed his tour.
McCausland, the show's first blind contestant, admitted he hadn't factored the timings of his tour too much into his Strictly schedule as he thought there was no way he would do well.
What, how, and why?
McCausland is getting set to resume a busy stand-up tour in January but the comedian told ITV's Lorraine that it would be nothing compared to the hours of training he had put in for months to lift the Strictly glitterball trophy with Dianne Buswell.
The funnyman — who is Strictly's first ever blind contestant — will not be able to join the show's live dancing tour which winners usually do because of a clash with his tour but admitted he hadn't expected it to be a problem.
He told Lorraine: "I started the tour in January. I did the first leg til May and was meant to be back out again in September. We moved the dates to accommodate Strictly. It just wasn't really a consideration at the time, I don't think anybody thought I'd be any good at it. I don't think they thought it, I don't think I thought it.
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"In terms of going out in January, I didn't think I'd be going on tour off the back of Strictly. I thought I'd be going off the back of two months off. It's a long tour, there's a lot of dates but it's going to be a doddle compared to Strictly."
He added of using Strictly for material: "I'll have to put something in and talk about it a bit."
McCausland joked of his busy tour schedule: "It's going to be a joy to get out there and just do an hour and a half a day."
He also features in a festive movie for Sky alongside Lee Mack, Bad Tidings, and joked: "This is the most perfectly timed thing I've ever done in my life, to have a film come out the week after Strictly."
What else did Chris McCausland say about his Strictly win?
McCausland has also spoken movingly about wanting to show representation for what people with disabilities can achieve with support, and said to Lorraine host Ranvir Singh: "I just wanted to go into this and represent people. The thing that was panicking me was the dancing. I know it's a dancing show it sounds silly to say that because I thought it could be a disaster.
"I thought in every other way I could represent really well I could be positive, I could be funny. I thought if I can get to the fifth show that's a success because that challenges expectations and it surprises people. So this is bananas."
He added: "I just hope people realise that people need opportunities. We should have higher expectations of each other and ourselves and be kinder to each other and kinder to ourselves. More is possible. I know this is quite extreme, but in everyday life, more is possible."
McCausland added that his daughter Sophie, 11, was very proud of him.
He said: "She fed off my anxiety because I was terrified and I couldn't really hide it that well so she was nervous for me. The first show with the Cha Cha she was so nervous. As soon as we started dancing down the dance floor, she burst out crying.
"She threw things at the telly when Craig was on. She calls him a bum. Even after the final even after he gave us a 10 and said something nice she couldn't forgive the two eights."
Lorraine airs on ITV1 at 9am on weekdays.
