Strictly Come Dancing star Chris McCausland melted hearts with a four-word question to his professional partner after his most emotional dance yet.
The BBC show continued on Saturday (19 October) with an episode that saw several standout dances and a surprise contestant top the leaderboard.
One talking point was comedian McCausland, who performed an emotional Waltz to Liverpool football anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, which left Shirley Ballas in tears.
McCausland is a fan of Liverpool and, at one stage in the dance, the comedian, who is blind, walked alone before meeting pro Dianne Buswell in the middle of the dancefloor for a rousing conclusion to the performance.
After they had finished, as the audience were applauding, Buswell embraced McCausland and said “I’m so proud of you.” The sincere moment was picked up by the microphones, with the comedian asking in response: “Did I do OK?”
McCausland’s question left many viewers in tears, with fans expressing how sweet they find his off-screen friendship with Buswell.
Many posted McCausland’s question accompanied with crying emojis, while one viewer wrote: “Did I do ok? You did more than OK, Chris.”
Others branded the moment “sweet” and “heartwarming”, with an additional fan stating: “Absolutely burst into tears when he said that. And I’m not exaggerating.”
One more fan agreed, writing: “When he asked her that, I got a lump in my throat!!”
Buswell told McCausland in response: ‘You did good, yeah. Really, really good.”
McCausland is blind and lost his sight when he was 22 due to a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa.
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Ahead of the show, McCausland, who is married and has a 10-year-old daughter, explained that he can “still see light and space” and has “an awareness of the space around me, not in terms of objects and things, but in terms of the room and whether there might be something in front of me”.
He also once said that he does not want to “bang viewers over the head” with his blindness, stating: “It’s great that there’s people coming through who are able to represent disability while also having the experience to do the job properly. There’s no point fast-tracking performers on to TV before they’re ready.
“My attitude has always been to represent by not banging you over the head. I think the best way to represent a disability is to make people forget about it whenever possible. It’s always part of you.
“But if you can do a show where, say, 80 per cent of it isn’t about being blind, that makes it more impactful and funnier when you do talk about it. I believe in representation within the mainstream.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues with Halloween Week on Saturday (26 October).