Strictly's Chris McCausland shares reason he turned to comedy after 'struggles'

Chris McCausland, who won Strictly Come Dancing last year with partner Diane Buswell, has opened up about his loss of sight and how he uses humour to cope.

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Strictly Come Dancing champion Chris McCausland has candidly shared his experiences of vision loss and how he uses humour to navigate "embarrassing situations". The 47-year-old comedian sat down with Alan Titchmarsh for a heartfelt discussion on the latest instalment of Love Your Weekend (18th May).

Chris, who was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, lost his sight completely by the age of 22. Despite this, he has soared in the entertainment industry, clinching the Strictly trophy last year with dance partner Diane Buswell.

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The stand-up star is no stranger to television, having graced the panels of top comedy shows like Would I Lie To You, Have I Got News For You, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and QI.

His acting credits include roles in Not Going Out, Me Too!, Moving On, EastEnders, and Bad Tidings.

In conversation with Alan, BAFTA laureate Chris delved into the gradual loss of his vision, stating: "My eyesight deteriorated from around maybe 25 years ago, you get used to it but you get used to the deterioration, there's never a point you can get used to it, this is what life is now", reports Edinburgh Live.

He reflected on the subtle changes that occur over time, noting: "It's the things that you don't notice happening at the time, but the things that you can do one year ago that you maybe can't do in two years time."

Chris also touched upon the challenges he faced during his late teens and early twenties, saying: "Especially when I got to kind of 18 to 25, that's when you know, all those years before, and still able to do everything you have always been able to do, but maybe want to strike a bit harder."

He highlighted a specific difficulty related to his condition: "But when you get to 18 to 25 that's when you stop being about to do things, like see in the dark."

He later added: "You just get used to it, and it's a mad thing to say but you wouldn't think that when it's happening, 'oh I wish I was blind now' because you want the sight that you have got. But when you get there, you know, it all starts working out."

Chris is currently delighting audiences across the UK with his stand-up show Yonks!, which has garnered positive reviews.

Alan, aged 76, quizzed Chris on whether he employs comedy as a "weapon" to tackle the challenges of blindness, prompting Chris to acknowledge that he indeed uses humour to navigate awkward situations.

"It's a way of putting people at ease. It's a way of telling you're at ease," Chris explained.

"It's a way of dealing with embarrassment because you get yourself into all kinds of embarrassing situations, especially when you're pretending that you can see more than you can, because you don't want to accept that you are blind.

"You pretend you can see, not don't want the label of that, especially when you are 23/23, you want to be cool, you don't want to have that label.

"You try to struggle through the whole thing that people don't notice that you are, but you're unable to see as much as you are.

"So you get yourself into all kinds of situations and humour tends to get you out of them, so you do use it a lot."

Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh airs Sundays at 9:30am on ITV1 and ITVX.

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