Blind comedian Chris McCausland has revealed his decision to reportedly sign up for Strictly is a bold move totally out of character from his past.
The star, 46, explained he used to avoid highlighting his blindness and refused to do anything he could have done better if he was fully-sighted, including being a father.
The CBeebies actor, started losing his sight 20 years ago, between the ages of 16 and 21, due to retinitis pigmentosa which, according to the NHS, sees sufferers lose their sight as the light-sensing cells of the retina gradually deteriorate.
Chris now shares daughter Sophie, 10, with his wife Patricia, and confessed having children ‘terrified him’ as he worried he wouldn’t be able to do things properly and would be a ‘half dad’.
Speaking in an interview with Gyles Brandreth, Chris explained: ‘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.
Blind comedian Chris McCausland has confessed having children ‘terrified him’ as he worried about being a ‘half dad’ due to his disability as he takes huge step ‘signing up to Strictly’
The CBeebies actor, who now shares daughter Sophie, 10, with his wife Patricia, said in an interview with Gyles Brandreth: ‘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’
‘I want to be good at things, I want to do things I’m good at, which is why I didn’t end up being a website designer. I would have done it, but I wouldn’t have been as good as I could have been if I could see what I was doing.
‘And that idea of doing something to a lower standard because of my eyesight ultimately stops me from doing a lot of things that I’ve enjoyed. Even football, blind people play football. If I can’t play football properly I didn’t want to play football.’
The star continued: ‘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.
‘You go “how am I going to be able to do those things – I’m not going to be a proper dad, I’m going to be a half dad”. That kind of really caused me a lot of torment in my head.
‘Weirdly, I think I wanted a girl because of that, because I figured if we got a girl I could be a loving dad, but some of the practical obligations that fall on dads they’d fall more on Patricia because she’d be a girl.
‘There wouldn’t be blokes’ things that I would then not be able to take my son to. But being a dad has been amazing.’
It was reported last week that Chris had signed up to this year’s series of Strictly, and speaking to Gyles he failed to deny the claims.
The signing is a first for the dance competition which previously featured deaf EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis who won the glitterball trophy alongside Giovanni Pearce in 2021.
As Gyles said to him ‘now we hear possibly doing Strictly – not sure if you’re allowed to talk about that’, Chris replied sarcastically while laughing loudly: ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about Gyles.’
While the TV panel show regular said although he’s never been angry about losing his sight, he was often ‘frustrated, upset, embarrassed, ashamed’ and would avoid drawing attention to it on stage – whereas on Strictly it will become a huge talking point.
But in a clue to why he’s now happy for the limitation to become a focus of attention on Strictly, even when he says he misses his mobility, he said with age he’s come to learn not to ‘give a sh*t’ about things.
The CBeebies actor, started losing his sight 20 years ago, between the ages of 16 and 21, due to retinitis pigmentosa which sees sufferers lose their sight as the light-sensing cells of the retina gradually deteriorate
He added: ‘Weirdly, I think I wanted a girl because of that, because I figured if we got a girl I could be a loving dad, but some of the practical obligations that fall on dads they’d fall more on Patricia because she’d be a girl’
Chris didn’t deny the reports that he has signed up for this year’s series of Strictly (pictured Rose Ayling-Ellis who won the glitterball trophy alongside Giovanni Pearce in 2021 as the first deaf contestant)
The comedian admitted that while in the past he would never have signed up to Strictly, he’s come to learn not to ‘give a sh*t’ about things
Chris, whose ‘Yonks!’ stand-up tour has now been extended, said: ‘I realised a lot of people they’d expect a comedian being that he’s blind to only talk about being blind.
‘Doing the opposite, when I started doing stand-up I never mentioned it. I’d do stand-up about everything else apart from being blind.
‘And I thought that I was challenging preconceptions, which I’m sure I was trying to, but I think I also was maybe trying to chase that normality and trying to almost forget myself.
‘And as you get older and you become a lot more comfortable in your own skin, you care less and I talked about it more now.
‘But it’s certainly a disadvantage in practical life and the logistics of life. The thing I miss the most is independence and mobility really.’
Retinitis Pigmentosa impacts the retina – the layer of light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
He explained previously about his blindness: ‘People go, ‘Well, when did you go blind?’ And it’s very hard to say because when your eyesight deteriorates steadily, 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.
He explained previously about his blindness: ‘People go, ‘Well, when did you go blind?’ And it’s very hard to say because when your eyesight deteriorates steadily, you stop being able to do different things at different stages’
‘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.
The NHS website explains that people with RP lose their vision as light-sensing cells of the retina gradually deteriorate.
It is generally characterised by a black pigmented appearance of the retina when a specialist looks inside the eyes.
Speaking about his visual impairment previously while taking part in Channel 4 series Scared of the Dark, Chris explained: ‘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.
‘It just gives you that awareness that you’re taking that away from me. I’m a slave to my iPhone like everybody else. So on paper you go, ‘Well, I should nail this,’ but in one area I should be more practically adjusted.
‘It’ll be quite interesting to see how quickly everybody else gets to that point. I’m quite looking forward to being the most able bodied person for a while. It doesn’t happen often.’
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