Strictly Come Dancing champion Chris McCausland has admitted he was initially "annoyed" when BBC executives first contacted him about appearing on the programme. The comedian rejected the competition multiple times before eventually accepting the invitation last year.

Against all expectations, the blind performer impressed audiences and ultimately claimed the Glitterball trophy alongside his professional dance partner Dianne Buswell.

Looking back on his path to Strictly, which saw Karen Carney and Carlos Gu triumph last weekend, Chris explained: "I said 'No' to it loads of times, I kept on saying 'No'.

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"First of all, I didn't have an emotional attachment to it, it was never a dream, I didn't know anything about it, literally nothing."

The 48-year-old said he also felt the proposition was "ridiculous" given his visual impairment and questioned whether it could actually work.

When Romesh Ranganathan asked if producers had worked out how it would function, Chris responded: "No, and this is what annoyed me.

"Listen, on one hand I believe in representation and I believe in representation across mainstream programming.

"[But] when the biggest mainstream TV show goes, 'We want to represent blindness on it', I was like, 'Are out of your mind?'".

Concerned the programme could prove disastrous, Chris repeatedly turned down the opportunity before finally choosing to take charge of how blindness could be represented.

"The biggest part of representation is education, it's about people who aren't like yourself seeing people like you in a normal way," he explained.

Among his examples, he highlighted able-bodied viewers witnessing disabled individuals "competing and being capable".

"So that's what it is for me," he added. "So yeah I didn't know if it was possible, so I kept on saying 'No'.

"And then, this is what happened, they kept on asking and I know, listen, they're obviously asking me because I'm blind, they didn't say it, but it's obvious they want a blind person on it."

After giving it more thought, Chris acknowledged that repeatedly turning down the offer would simply lead producers to cast another blind contestant who might not represent it the way he wanted.

"And I kind of knew that apart from dancing, I could do it positively and with comedy and I thought it needed that," he added.

"And if somebody else went on it with a sob story and a little violin [saying in a sad voice] 'I lost my [sight]', I knew I'd be furious with myself.

"I was like I'm torn between this thing now of disaster on television and jeopardizing what I had, I mean I was playing the Shepherd's Bush Empire and doing a tour of thousand seated venues.

"But if people see me and feel sorry for me, who wants to go and see a comic they feel sorry for?".

True to his intentions, Chris transformed his experience into something audiences won't forget.

The comedian didn't just wow viewers with his moves, but equally with his comedy and sharp responses to the judging panel.

One memorable moment showcasing his wit came when critical judge Craig Revel Horwood suggested one of his performances "lacked any sort of swing".

In a cheeky response to the judge, Chris fired back: "Craig, can I just say as well - the beard doesn't suit you and even I know that! Just friendly advice, darling."

Craig handled the jibe with good humour, responding: "You should touch it, it's very soft."

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