Strictly Come Dancing made a dazzling return with its live shows last weekend, and comedian Chris McCausland captivated audiences with his stellar performance alongside pro-dancer Dianne Buswell.
The 47 year old stand-up, who is the first blind contestant on the beloved BBC series, has admitted that he had never watched Strictly before and had “no burning desire” to join in, yet his resolve to not let blindness hinder him saw him embrace the sequined challenge for the show’s 20th anniversary.
Chris’ spirit stems from losing his sight as a young adult; he was able to see during his childhood but steadfastly refuses to be subdued by his condition. Chris shared: “It’s difficult when you’re losing your sight so subtly.”
“There’s never a moment you’ve got to deal with. So if somebody has an accident and the next day they’re disabled, they’ve got a huge moment of trauma and they’ve got to come to terms with that. But when you’re losing your sight noticeably slowly, it’s just kind of a constant phase of frustration and denial really.”
He explained you slowly start to realise you “can’t do things”, adding that each thing happens on its own. But as a result, Chris added there is a level of “refusal” to get on board with being blind.
He adds: “So there’s a huge kind of refusal to get on board with the whole blind thing, I think. You know, like using a stick. I was never comfortable with it. I think as a result I’m still not comfortable with it. I’m still not good at it. I think I’m not comfortable with it now because I haven’t got the confidence with all that kind of stuff. I haven’t got the confidence with it because I was so resistant to it through my twenties that I’ve never really got massively on board with it all. But luckily we’ve got Uber now!”.
Chris has previously appeared on various TV shows, including panel shows like Have I Got News For You and 8 Out of 10 Cats, as well as hosting his own show, The Chris McCausland Show.
In 2023, he participated in Channel 4’s Scared of the Dark, a psychological experiment where eight celebrities lived in complete darkness, performing tasks while dealing with the pressures of light deprivation.
His participation in Strictly provides him with a platform to highlight the capabilities and resilience of visually impaired individuals. The comedian stated: “I’m serious about ‘Strictly’. I want to show just how capable and resilient blind people are.”
“There’s a misperception that we are helpless but in fact we are hugely adaptable and amazing problem-solvers. Yet there’s a 73 per cent unemployment rate among blind people of working age in this country because employers just don’t have the necessary vision to give us a chance. I want to change that although if I’m useless it will be a bit of an own goal.”
