Strictly's Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell in tears as they finish final dance

Chris McCausland and his dance partner Dianne Buswell were visibly moved during their poignant final performance on Strictly Come Dancing.

The stand-up comedian has etched his name in the show's history as the first visually impaired contestant to compete. As Chris reflected on his journey to the final, both he and Dianne became teary-eyed discussing the profound impact the competition has had on them.

In a heartfelt admission today, Chris revealed: "I shed a tear during the Viennese Waltz last week and I haven't been able to turn the tap off this week. It's not taken a lot to get me going. It's just so overwhelming being in the final. Just the messages I've had. I'm just really proud of what we've been able to do. If I could have picked any [of the judges] to be with me, it would have been Craig. He's been my toughest critic and so there's more to learn from him."

Dianne, equally emotional, encouraged everyone, saying: "There's so much more that is possible. Even I at the beginning thought I didn't know how we could do this. And he said, Di I can do so much more than you think. Everyone that may have a disability or an obstacle, you can do so much more than you believe," following which the judges awarded them a perfect score of 40, reports the Mirror.

Post-performance, emotional scenes unfolded as Chris and Dianne struggled to speak, overwhelmed with emotion. Judge Shirley Ballas stepped forward to embrace Dianne, lauding her as a "very special person".

When questioned whether their dynamic had shifted since the show's inception, Dianne shared: "It really hasn't changed much at all has it? We've been pretty much the same. I get on his nerves a bit more nowadays but other than that, it's the same!

"It's been very similar from the word go to now. I think we understand each other a lot more now obviously. I know what works for Chris, what he might worry about, for example, we performed first the other day and I was thinking about how I can stop him worrying. I know little things that he does now, and vice versa and he knows things that might make me panic or worry."

Regarding their connection, Chris noted: "It hasn't really, I think we kind of just hit it off straight away, didn't we? Dianne's learned a lot about patience. There's a lot of overlaps in our personality and upbringings. I think you could pick up Dianne's family and drop them in Liverpool and they would be the same family."

When questioned about the significance of making it to the Strictly final, Dianne expressed that it was beyond their initial expectations.

"It's incredible. It's not something we ever thought would be possible when we started. We've surprised ourselves and other people. It's the biggest surprise that we've made it all the way to the end. Reaching the final is the cherry on the cake," she stated. Chris stated: "I feel like we've never stayed in the competition above anybody that got higher scores than us, so it feels like we've exceeded expectations and got here on our own merits, so we've succeeded above and beyond what we expected of ourselves."

Strictly Come Dancing is available to catch up on BBC iPlayer