Strictly's Chris McCausland on going blind at 22, TV career, wife and daughter

Comedian Chris has officially made history as the first blind contestant to take part on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing - and here is everything you need to know about him

Chris McCausland is a force to be reckoned with on the UK comedy scene.

The Liverpool native has risen through the ranks in recent years to become one of Britain's top comedians and is not only a success on the stand-up scene, but on TV too.

This year, he has landed his biggest TV gig yet as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing. Partnered with Dianne Buswell, Chris has made history as the first blind contestant to take part in the show, following in the footsteps of paralympian Jason Smyth, who won Dancing with the Stars in Ireland.

Chris has had a colourful comedy career and will be a familiar face to many people. Away from work, the 47-year-old is a devoted husband and father and has spoken candidly about losing his vision in his twenties.

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Chris McCausland's career

Chris is a successful stand-up, having started performing on stage in his twenties.

His TV comedy credits include Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News for You, Would I Lie to You?, QI, The Last Leg, 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, House of Games, the Royal Variety Performance and Not Going Out.

Chris has also dabbled in TV presenting, having hosted Channel 4 travel series Wonders of the World I Can't See and ITV weekend chat show The Chris McCausland Show.

How Chris McCausland lost his sight and when he went blind

Chris is blind due to the condition retinitis pigmentosa, which impairs vision in low light conditions and lost his sight aged 22.

"When it started happening, it was scary and embarrassing. I found myself in difficult situations because I was reluctant to ask for help," he previously told The Mirror.

"I knew I would never be on a level playing field with everyone else. My eyesight deteriorated significantly while I was at university, and the technology available at that time wasn't advanced enough, so I had to abandon my career path in web development."

Explaining how his eyesight deteriorated over time, Chris said: "You stop being able to do different things at different stages.

"So you stop being able to see in the dark, or seeing dusk, or see your computer screen, or read a printed book, all of these different things happen at different times. But I kind of say late teens to early twenties, that kind of five-year period from maybe 16 to 21 is when the bulk of the useful stuff just went."

Chris previously described his vision when he took part in Channel 4 series Scared of the Dark.

"I'm blind but I don’t see black. I still see light and space. I still have an awareness of the space around me. Not in terms of objects and things, but in terms of the room and whether there might be something in front of me."

Chris McCausland's family life

Chris tends to keep details of his family life under wraps but now and again will speak about his wife and daughter.

His wife Patricia is Brazilian, and the star has previously joked that there is a "culture clash" within his marriage.

"As you can imagine, we are very different in terms of our culture, and our biological response to temperature. Whereas my wife will still require a winter coat in 22 degree sunshine, I struggle to function in anything warmer than about 26," he shared with Brighton magazine in 2019.

He added that being a father to daughter Sophie is "amazing" and that him being blind has gotten easier as she has gotten older.

"There was a really difficult period when she was a one year old, where she was mobile but silent, crawling about on the floor but hardly making a bloody peep!

"Looking back, maybe I should have put a bell on her, or a bluetooth tracker so that I could ask Alexa to find her! Now she's five though, it's probably things like not being able to help her properly with her reading and her writing. How many of the other kids in her class have already got better handwriting than their Daddy?"

During an interview with Gyles Brandreth, Chris candidly confessed he was worried about being a "half dad".

He said: "I was in such a dilemma about it because I knew I would regret not having kids, but the thought of having kids terrified me.

"The idea of being a parent and all of the things I was going to be unable to do properly. My dad, all the things he used to do with me as a kid, taking me to different places, and the time he put in helping me build things."

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