Comedian Chris McCausland is set to become the first blind contestant on Strictly Come Dancing this year, according to reports.
Just days after joking about Michael Gove entering I’m a Celebrity on Have I Got News for You, the 46-year-old has signed up for a reality series of his own.
The Liverpool native is the first contestant announced for the 22nd series this autumn. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, the show's first deaf contestant, who won in 2021.
Having lost his sight at age 22 due to the hereditary condition retinitis pigmentosa, McCausland has since become a regular on panel shows and starred in the CBBC show Me Too!
The married father has been on the circuit for years and his act plays on his blindness but also draws from his time working in IT.
Of his blindness, he told the Sun: “When it started happening it was scary and embarrassing.
“I got myself into bad situations because I didn’t want to ask for help. I will never be on a level playing field with everyone else.”
Dancing might be a first but he does have some history in another unlikely profession, espionage. “I applied to MI5, and got down to the final 30 out of 3000 applicants,” he told the i earlier this year.
“They were really excited at first, and said that this was new territory for them, but in the end they turned me down purely because of my eyesight. Fair enough, I suppose.”
EastEnders actress Ayling-Ellis went all the way in 2021 and said afterwards: “I’ve become more me than I’ve ever been because of Strictly.”
Her partner Giovanni Pernice said: “Incredible. I have to say thank you to this beautiful young lady who made all my dreams come true.
“It took me seven years to get that thing and you became the best dancer, the best teammate I could have asked for, you are a dream so thank you for everything.”
