Chris McCausland details struggles at home due to 'draining' Strictly Come Dancing stint

Strictly Come Dancing's Chris McCausland has shared a candid glimpse into the challenges he's been facing offstage following several demanding weeks on the BBC programme, in an uncommon personal revelation. The 47 year old stand-up comedian has shed light on the gruelling practice sessions and his late-night journeys back home.

Writing in his Telegraph column, Chris reveals that he travels home "super late" on Saturdays to ensure he can "wake up in his own bed" come Sunday morning.

Although the Strictly Come Dancing results show is broadcast on BBC One on Sunday evenings, it is actually pre-recorded on Saturday nights after the live show. This scheduling allows stars like Chris to take Sunday off before they dive back into training for the next week.

Despite having Sundays to himself, Chris admits to feeling "quite flat" and often uses the day to recuperate. He expressed: "I find that I am feeling quite flat on Sunday as the week's intensive training, and then the stress and emotion of Saturday, is quite draining."

He also humorously discusses his attempts at family bonding, saying: "I try to remain on the coach as much as possible and entice my daughter into a game of Uno so that I can teach her about handing defeats early in life. Yeah, I am an oversized child."

Chris also touches on the trials of modern parenting, comparing the difficulty of pulling his 11 year old away from her iPad to convincing someone to choose a tomato over a chocolate gateau.

The host, who made history this year as Strictly's first blind contestant, has won over viewers with his partner Dianne Buswell. Despite having "a lot of fun" in the initial five weeks, Chris admits that the Samba and Tango proved more challenging due to their technical nature, which he felt lacked the "wow factor".

This resulted in them ranking joint bottom and joint second-from-bottom on the leaderboard, but they were saved each time by the public vote. This week sees the pair's "Couple's Choice," with Chris hoping their dance to John Lennon's Instant Karma will add some "personal meaning".

Chris has previously expressed his initial apprehension about joining Strictly. Even though he is a favourite to win the coveted Glitterball Trophy, Chris reveals he asks Dianne the same question every week.

Speaking to Heat magazine about whether he expected to do so well on the show, Chris responded: "No. Every time we get through I say to Dianne 'I got away with that, didn't I? '".