Chris McCausland is set to become Strictly Come Dancing ’s first blind contestant but says he took a bit of convincing to sign up. The 47-year-old Liverpool-born comedian lost his sight completely when he was 22 due to retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease, which causes gradual degeneration of the retina. He will be a familar face to viewers having hosted his own show on ITV on Saturday mornings and also featured on panel shows such as Have I Got News For You, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown and QI.
The national disability charity, Sense, has hailed McCausland's participation in the show a "pivotal moment" for disability representation. Speaking to the Standard and other media ahead of his Strictly dancefloor debut, McCausland admitted he is going in with some trepidation. He said: “I wasn’t keen on the idea because I’m like that with a lot of things I’m quite resistant to things and then it takes me a while to acclimatise to it, really think it through but immediately I was like nah, I can’t do that, that’s ridiculous what they on? That’s a stupid question! But I said the same thing about my ITV show that I was doing – are they mad? Can’t see the autocues, I’ll never know where the cameras are, what are they thinking.
I just need to process in my mind and have a little think.” He continued: “This is so far out of my comfort zone that it’s gonna be an experience and I can’t see, but for me it’s about if I’m able to do things that peo.