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Strictly Come Dancing contestant Chris McCausland has hit back at Alan Sugar after The Apprentice boss appeared to call his recent dance performance a “gimmick”.
The 47-year-old comedian is the show’s first blind contestant, and performed a Salsa to “Down Under” by Men at Work with his professional partner Dianne Buswell on Saturday night (12 October).
McCausland’s routine included a series of impressive lifts, which were praised by the Strictly judges and fans at home alike.
Head judge Shirley Ballas was lost for words at the end of the comedian’s performance. “I can’t even imagine how you managed to do that so flawlessly when you can’t see,” she said.
However, Sugar appeared less than impressed as he posted a scathing critique of Saturday’s performances on X/Twitter.
“I don’t know when Strictly Come Dancing are going to run out of contestant gimmicks,” he wrote. “I would not be surprised if they had a AI mechanical robot next year.”
Fans interpreted the attack to be aimed at McCausland, as one wrote, “Gimmicks? Says the man who literally just points a finger. I hope Chris wins.”
But McCausland waded into the conversation to defend himself as he hit back, “I am sorry my gimmick offends you oh mighty Lord. #YoureTired.”
“There’s nothing gimmicky about you Chris. You are the real deal” commented one person as people flocked to support the comedian.
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Many called the comment “ugly” and “awful”. Others took issue with the apparent targeting of McCausland’s disability as one person wrote, “Good for you Chris. I love seeing Strictly show that ANYONE can learn to dance and enjoy dancing, no matter your size, sexuality, disability, etc.”
Another commented, “If I’d realised my deafness was a gimmick, I’d have monetized that s*** years ago.”
“There’s nothing gimmicky about you Chris. You are the real deal,” wrote another supporter.
After the judges’ scores, McCausland flew straight to the top half of the leaderboard with a total of 30 points after receiving six from Craig Revel Horwood and eight points each from the remaining three judges.
It comes shortly after McCausland addressed the backlash surrounding comments made by eliminated Strictly Come Dancing star Toyah Willcox last week when she advised the celebrities still on the show: “If you don’t wanna do a dance off, get rid of Chris!”
However, McCausland has since defended Willcox online, saying that the singer has been “nothing but beautiful and supportive” during their few weeks together on the dancing competition.
“What she said on It Takes Two was funny and an incredible bloody compliment,” he said.
