Chris McCausland: ‘I don’t want to be in a show because I’m blind – my blindness is incidental’

After gradually going blind in his teens and then losing his sight entirely at 22, Liverpudlian Chris McCausland left his software career behind to become a stand-up comedian. His breakthrough on television came in 2006, playing Rudi on the CBeebies series Me Too! for 10 years. While touring the UK, he’s since appeared on TV shows, such as Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You? and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, as well as fronting The Wonders Of The World I Can’t See. Chris won the 2024 series of Strictly Come Dancing and delivered Channel 4’s alternative Christmas message. He lives in London with his wife Patricia and daughter Sophie, 11. He has a podcast with Dianne Buswell, his Strictly partner, called Winning Isn’t Everything.

Best childhood memory?

I’ve been a staunch Liverpool FC supporter all my life, having grown up in West Derby Village. Football is life in Liverpool, and I remember May 1986 clearly. I was eight. It was the first time that Liverpool played Everton in the FA Cup final. It was a sunny, warm day and every single house nearby was decked in red or blue, same with the factories and buses. The newsagents had every bit of football paraphernalia you can imagine. The city came to a standstill. What made it all the more special is that football wasn’t on telly all the time, so it was a really special event. They did a whole day of programming around it. Liverpool won 3-1. It was a glorious day.

Best lesson you’ve learnt?

You don’t have to be perfect to be a success. Doing Strictly, I learnt that very early on. I’ve always been crippled by perfectionism and the fear of putting things out in case they’re not good enough. I wasn’t even worried I’d make a fool of myself on Strictly, more that it would be a disaster.

When you’re a creative person, you’re always judging yourself. I learnt first-hand in the most intense way that it’s not how things are judged or scored all the time (I mean we got 23 out of 40 on the first dance); it’s how you connect with people and show them that you’re having fun. That’s where my comedic skills helped. That first dance, Diane did a cartwheel into me, and I had to grab her legs. She could have kicked me in the head if I wasn’t in the correct position. The whole point of me being there was to shock people and prove it was possible. I needed to try harder than a fully sighted contestant, otherwise I could hear people saying, “Blind people can’t do that, he should never have been on.”