Dianne Buswell has shared a hilarious interaction she had with fans while shopping for underwear following her Strictly Come Dancing triumph at the end of last year.
As fans of the hit dance show will already know, the dancer and her celebrity dance partner, comedian Chris McCausland, were crowned champions of the BBC One dance contest's 2024 series in emotional scenes at the end of a glittering grand final in December.
In a sad move, particularly for fans who grew fond of the pair, Chris, who was Strictly's first-ever blind contestant and winner, and Dianne soon went their separate ways as their dancing journey wasn't continuing like some of their co-stars on the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour 2025.
Chris was unable to sign up to the string of live arena shows, which took place from mid-January to early February, as he returned to his day job and continued his stand-up tour, Yonks!, which he paused in order to sign up to take part in Strictly's 20th-anniversary series in the first place.
While they haven't been seen performing together again, their partnership has, however, continued in the form of a new podcast, which they have titled after their Strictly team name, Winning Isn't Everything, which was based on Dianne's dad Mark's comments to his daughter when she discovered her partner for her eighth year on the show.
In the last episode, Chris was heard asking Dianne about her stint in his home city of Liverpool during the Strictly Live tour. "How was it being in the city?" he was heard asking her, to which she replied: "It was really cool."
She continued: "So I went for a few walks because we had single shows there which meant during the day, you can get out and about and go and explore the place, really. I had to go and actually get some new underwear because I had run out and so I went over to M&S."
Dianne went on to explain how she was making the most of a deal on the items being sold individually and after picking up a 'handful' to buy, saying she 'went to town', she was stopped.
"I had a bundle of knickers in my hand and I felt like Santa Claus at one point because I had a line of, not children, of elderly women going, 'Oh my God, would you look at that, that's Dianne!'"
There was a momentary pause in the story as Dianne admitted she couldn't do a Liverpool accent and Chris found it amusing that she sound more Australian than she does normally. "That was almost Dame Edna Everage," Chris joked.
Dianne continued: "Anyway, there was a queue - a queue of old ladies and they were all having a picture of me while I was there, holding a bunch of knickers in my hand and smiling. It was one after the other! So much so that I caused a ruckus in M&S.
"The manager comes down and she was like, 'I'm the manager, I heard you were in here... I've come down just to say well done!'" Dianne added: "So I feel like, Chris, I am a national treasure now in Liverpool!"
