Prospect of blind competitor on Strictly thrills visually impaired ballroom dancers

The comic Chris McCausland’s inclusion in Strictly has thrilled the community of visually impaired ballroom dancers. Photograph: BBC

The BBC has unveiled the first two contestants for its next series of Strictly Come Dancing, one of whom will be the show’s first blind star.

The comic Chris McCausland’s inclusion in the show has thrilled the small but dedicated community of visually impaired ballroom dancers, who are already celebrating the inclusion of a category for visually impaired dancers for the first time at the prestigious Open World international dance competition in Blackpool.