Strictly star Chris McCausland reflects on eye condition which left him blind at 22
Chris McCausland has firmly established himself as a fan favourite of this year's Strictly Come Dancing. The comedian, who is blind, is partnered with professional dancer Dianne Buswell for the 2024 series and has been wowing audiences with his impressive moves.
The 47-year-old, who made his name as a stand-up comic, is a regular fixture on our TV screens, making frequent appearances on panel quiz shows such as Have I Got News for You, 8 Our of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Richard Osman’s House of Games and Would I Lie To You?. He's also an actor, perhaps best known for playing Rudi in the CBeebies show Me Too!.
Chris has been hailed as an inspiration by Strictly viewers, who have praised the star's incredible ability to dance without sight. But how much do you know about Chris's condition? Find out all we know here…
What is Chris McCausland's condition?
Chris lost his sight at the age of 22 due to a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa.
According to the Moorfields Eye Hospital, retinitis pigmentosa is the name given to a group of conditions, which result in the gradual degeneration of the light sensitive cells of the retina.
Opening up about his condition, Chris told i News last year: "My grandmother had it, and my mum. Basically, I'd been going blind very slowly since I was born, and so didn't even really notice it happening.
"Like the frog in the pan of boiling water," he added.
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Sharing an insight into his experience of blindness, Chris explained: "They say that when you lose your sight, your hearing gets better. It doesn't. But you do pay more attention to it. So when you're sat at a beach resort, and you're hot, and you can't see what's around you, then you just end up concentrating on how hot you actually are. I suffer more for it."
Chris recently spoke about the lack of genetic testing for the condition while chatting with Gyles Brandreth on his Rosebud podcast. Chris revealed that he and his wife Patricia aren't able to know whether their daughter, Sophie, ten, will develop retinitis pigmentosa.
"If the genome was a map of the United Kingdom, they think my problem is maybe somewhere in south west London but they haven't narrowed it down to a specific gene yet," explained the comedian. "But it meant that when my daughter was born we wanted to know whether she would have it and of course, there’s just no test there's nothing.
"The analogue tests they do now are a lot more technological, they can check the electrical signals of the optic nerve as you're looking at things and see whether it's as strong as it should be and all these kinds of things, but nothing definitive. It's all just wait and see."
