BBC Strictly Come Dancing Chris McCausland's life away from the dancefloor

Chris McCausland is just as astounded as anyone with his success on BBC Strictly Come Dancing. The 47 year old comedian holds the title of being the first blind contestant on the BBC1 show and has impressed viewers with his outstanding performances alongside professional dancer Dianne Buswell.

As Chris's remarkable journey steals the hearts of the nation, he has become an early contender to win the Glitterball trophy. Despite this, the Liverpool-born comic remains modest, finding joy simply in remaining part of the competition.

Speaking exclusively with the ECHO, Chris shared: "When I came into it, I wanted to surprise people, surprise myself and do more than people would think is possible, but that was a pipedream."

"There was a chance that it could be a disaster. There was a very real possibility that I could have gone out in the first round. But it's worked and that's not just because of me. It's worked because Dianne has been willing to take risks and been willing to put the hours in."

"We haven't tried to pare it back or dumb it down. We've really tried to wow people and do impressive things. People have loved it and it's all worked so far, but it's surprised me as much as anyone else."

The funnyman hadn't fully grasped what participating in the show would entail and acknowledged the leap of faith it required. However, tackling challenges head-on is not new for McCausland, who initially took up stand-up comedy as a self-imposed "dare".

He explained: "I wasn't a performer, I'd never done drama really and never had any aspirations to perform. But I got the bug and it became a hobby. You put yourself outside of your comfort zone and then that becomes the comfort zone."

"After a while, stand up became the thing I was comfortable at. You still get the tingles of anticipation ahead of a show. You still get nervous from time to time, but it eventually becomes comfortable and feels like just what you do."

"I've been very lucky over the last five years that there has been a lot of opportunities that stand up has opened the door to that have been out of my comfort zone and have brought back that feeling of trepidation, and fear of 'can I do this? '" Chris, who lost his sight at 22 due to retinitis pigmentosa (RP), credits his fearless attitude to his upbringing in the 1980s West Derby, citing his independence as vital for his development.

Speaking to the ECHO, he said: "My sight was never perfect and it was deteriorating, but I could see. I was just in the street all day, there was no being wrapped in cotton wool."

"It was just get out there and do whatever anybody else was doing. Get in trouble running around West Derby. Climbing up the walls into gardens, playing football and getting up to no good. It was such a normal, risk-taking childhood."

Comedian Chris reflected on the tight-knit community of his Liverpool upbringing, stating: "Back then you had independence in abundance. Because of that you also had interactions with everybody in the street, everybody in the neighbourhood. You knew them because your ball went into their garden. You knew them because you were knocking on their door asking if they wanted their car washing."

He continued, recalling the local camaraderie, "You knew them because they'd tell you to p**s off down the road rather than kicking the ball against the wall. You knew everybody and they all had a sense of humour so you grew up just having a laugh."

Chris believes this sense of community greatly contributed to his humour, key to his life and career: "With Liverpool, you can say it's been through a lot in its recent history. But it's always been brought together, in my lifetime, by music, football and comedy. That comedy and that sense of humour has always stuck with me."

Although Chris now resides in the capital with his wife, Patricia, and daughter, Sophie, after moving to Kingston in London to study Software Engineering, he maintains a strong bond to Merseyside and is passionate about representing Liverpool whenever possible. The comedian affectionately noted: "You can take the lad out of Liverpool, but you can't take the Liverpool out of the lad."

Chris has effectively woven his connection to Liverpool into his Strictly performances, dancing to The Beatles' 'Twist and Shout' and performing an emotional Waltz to 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. Tonight, he continues this theme with a Couple's Choice dance to John Lennon's 'Instant Karma'.

Discussing the impact, Chris shared: "My story is growing up in Liverpool, losing my sight and getting into comedy and then being able to do [Strictly] and represent that more might be possible than what you would have imagined. The song itself is not a sad song, it's a brilliantly positive, euphoric song."

Emphasising the song’s message, he added: "The [message of the chorus] says that everybody is as valuable as each other and everybody shines as brightly as the next person. You've just got to be kind to yourself and be kind to everybody else. It's a beautiful message and it's delivered in a very euphoric, poignant way."

With strong ties to Liverpool FC, Chris' support for his home city is set to be enthusiastically returned by the people of Merseyside, especially after he humorously revealed tuning out during dress rehearsals last week to catch Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Brighton.

He recounted: "I was sitting in Claudia's area in the studio and I have to pretend I'm watching people dance on the show. I thought I can't be a***d doing that now because Liverpool are playing. I had my earphones in and I was sat up there, while someone was doing a dance, listening to LFCTV and Steve Hunter gave me a shout-out on the commentary. I nearly fell off my chair. Just to hear Ste wishing me luck for Strictly that night was lovely."

Chris highlighted that his journey's proudest moment came when he managed to do 'You'll Never Walk Alone' justice, receiving commendation from the daughter of the late Merseybeat icon Gerry Marsden. As reported by the ECHO, he shared: "She said her dad would have been emotional and proud to see it. If you get a message like that, then you've nailed it, haven't you? It doesn't really matter what the judges say."

His aim was to resonate not just with Liverpool FC enthusiasts but also with a wider audience, and indeed, he even got a thumbs-up from rival fans, which was a delightful shock. He chuckled: "You know you've done well when you get messages from Everton and Man United fans going, 'That was actually quite good that. I wanted to hate it, but it was alright.'".

Chris is buzzing with excitement to hit the dance floor again tonight, keen to step into the new phase of his Strictly adventure. Yet, he's been vocal about his frustrations with the football schedule disruptions, caused by TV broadcasts shifting his beloved Reds' games, potentially overlapping with his dance performance.

He quipped: "The show is getting shorter. I'm doing the maths and I think I might miss the first 15 minutes so I'll be doing the dance with my headphones on."

Laughing at the predicament, Chris acknowledged the support from Liverpool but realistically noted: "That's the problem, isn't it? I'm very grateful for the support I've received from the city of Liverpool, but I do not expect anything I've achieved to even come close to people saying, 'Shall we watch that instead of the football? ' Maybe people will have one eye on each, but it's unlucky isn't it? ".

Eager for a prolonged stint in the BBC competition, even if it means skipping out on the whole Premier League festive season, Chris has embraced Strictly as an exhilarating challenge—far removed from his usual realm. He described the thrill as unmatched by any previous experience and opened up about the heartfelt reason driving his determination to progress in the contest.

Reflecting on the duration of his stint, Chris shared: "I've been in here longer than I thought I would be. Everybody goes on about Blackpool, which is next week. Me and Dianne have really had this pipedream of being here the week after Blackpool because her mum and dad are coming from Australia and they haven't seen her dance live for eight years."

"If we can get through these next two weeks then we've hit our goal of her being able to have that moment. This is nothing without her, she has got the most out of me and I think it will be nice if we're both able to give something to each other."

"If we can get to that moment then stick a fork in me, I'll be done. But certainly, I'm hoping to stay in this for as long as possible."

Strictly Come Dancing the results airs tonight on BBC One at 7.20pm.