BBCA partially sighted woman who reignited her love for dance on Amy Dowden’s Dare to Dance television series says Strictly Come Dancing’s first blind contestant will be “fantastic representation”.
Kirsty James from Caerphilly loved to dance as a child and attended a performing arts college, but was worried her dream may be crushed by her sight loss.
“When I lost my sight, I lost my confidence, so years on I’ve had this opportunity and I definitely made the most of it,” she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
It comes as Strictly Come Dancing announced its first ever blind contestant, comedian Chris McCausland, on Monday.
The 47-year-old, who lost his sight in his 20s, joked: “I can’t dance, I can’t see the dancing I will have to do. What can possibly go wrong?”
Kirsty, who works as the policy and campaigns officer for Royal National Institute of Blind People in Wales, began losing her sight as a teenager.
She was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called Stargardt disease and told that she would go completely blind.
She said getting back into dancing after applying for Dare to Dance had been the best experience of her life.
“We just took it step by step. Amy would move my hands into different positions… it was just an opportunity for me to really say when I couldn’t see the dance moves,” she said.
“My dancer partner Lloyd was fantastic, he was really patient and came up with different ways of explaining.”
Kirsty said she was “really delighted” to see Chris McCausland sign up for Strictly, adding: “He’s amazing anyway, the way he puts things into perspective but in a funny way. I think it’s going to be a really good show and he’s going to learn a lot.
“Last year they had audio description, which was fantastic, and then this year having a blind contestant. It really shows the inclusivity Strictly are trying to portray.”
She added that “visually impaired people are the best problem solvers” which she thought would give McCausland a good chance in the competition.
“I’ll be interested to see how he adapts the different moves, especially as the time goes on and the dances increase in intensity,” she said.
“It’s going to be really funny as well as insightful.”
National disability charity, Sense, also welcomed the Strictly line-up news, calling it a “pivotal moment” for disability representation.
BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing is set to return this autumn, with new safeguarding measures in place following complaints of abusive behaviour towards contestants on the show.
Welsh professional dancer Amy Dowden is set to return to the line-up, following her cancer diagnosis and treatment which prevented her from taking part last year.