Strictly Come Dancing star Chris McCausland has had his say on The Apprentice’s Lord Alan Sugar’s comments about ‘contestant gimmicks’ on the BBC reality show

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell

Chris has hit back at Lord Sugar’s comments (Image: PA)

Strictly Come Dancing star Chris McCausland has hit back at Lord Alan Sugar after the businessman has been accused of branding the visually impaired contestant a ‘show gimmick’.

Stand-up comedian Chris, who has been tipped to win this years show alongside his dance partner Dianne Buswell has been a fan favourite on the BBC show ever since this years series began, and has now issued a response to Lord Sugar’s comments.

Earlier this month, The Apprentice star made a post on X saying: “I don’t know when Strictly Come Dancing are going to run out of contestant gimmicks. I would not be surprised if they had a AI mechanical robot next year.”

After fans jumped to Chris’ defence as they called out Lord Sugar’s comments, McCausland didn’t take kindly to the 77-year-old’s remarks either, writing on X: “I am sorry my gimmick offends you oh mighty Lord. #YoureTired.”

Lord Alan Sugar


Lord Sugar reacted angrily to the RNIB’s X post (Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

However, the businessman came back with his own furious retort, reacting to a post by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) who had criticised his comments as they too believed it was aimed at McCausland’s involvement in the show.

In response to the RNIB, The Apprentice star wrote: “Why are you assuming I am referring to disabled people. You make me sick.”

Now, speaking to the Times, McCausland has spoken further about the incident: “But what was he on about? I can’t imagine. Some people are in a position where they should know to keep things inside their heads. We all have these thoughts from time to time, don’t we, but we can just keep them to ourselves.”

The comedian, who is originally from Liverpool, gradually started to loose his eyesight when he was 22, after he was diagnosed with a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which causes the cells in the retina to degenerate over time leading to the loss of sight.

Despite finishing in the bottom two yesterday (Sunday, October 27), the comedian managed to survive another week. After wowing judges in his previous performances, he is now tipped to make it all the way to the final week.