Inside Chris McCausland's marriage to Brazilian wife and cheeky on-screen spat

Comedian and TV star Chris McCausland has become a fan favourite on this year's Strictly Come Dancing. And while his wife tends to stay out of the spotlight, they've shared some jokey digs together

Chris McCausland's wife largely stays out of the spotlight - but one on-screen tiff between the pair raised eyebrows.

The comedian is making history as Strictly Come Dancing's first blind contestant, and fans can't get enough of his performances. He is being proudly supported by his Brazillian wife Patricia as she cheers him on lovingly in the crowd.

The Liverpudlian 8 out of 10 Cats star has been married since 2012 and the couple have been together for 16 years. They met when Patricia, from Rio De Janeiro, was working on a TV programme about the Edinburgh Festival and now have a 10-year-old daughter called Sophie.

While little is known about their marriage, the pair did have an awkward encounter on screen once that led to Patricia jokingly storming off set.

She and Chris chatted about their marriage during an episode of David Mitchell's Outsiders last year. The couple cameo was a fiery one as Patricia was shocked at Chris' cheeky response to Alan Davies' grilling.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you in your relationship?" Alan asked, prompting Patricia to reply: "I'll go for a good, solid nine and a half. And that's not to say I don't feel like it's a ten. I just feel there's always room for improvement, because we've got that winning mentality and that's why we're here."

But she was shocked when she turned to see Chris feigning shock at her score, as he jokingly quipped: "You'd go nine and a half?" When she repeated her score again, the comedian shrugged and said: "Yeah nine and a half." Patricia thanked him for agreeing, but Chris continued to wind his wife up, as he asked her again: "Nine and a half?"

Alan then poked again and asked Chris what his "real number" was, but the funnyman insisted his score was the same as his wife's to keep the peace and repeated: "Nine and a half." However Patricia looked furious, and Alan struggled to contain his laughter as he asked the couple: "Do you fight often?"

Not wanting to get into trouble for a second time, Chris said to his wife: "Can you go first?" However, Patricia didn't hold back with her reaction, as she stormed off the TV set shouting: "All right. You know what. There you go. Yeah, see you later."

But the tiff didn't seem to be serious, as the couple have been together for 16 years. In an interview with Disability Horizons, Chris revealed how he popped the question and said: "My wife used to work in TV and we met very early on in my career when she was involved in making a programme about the Edinburgh Festival. We've been together for 16 years now and got married in 2012 after I'd proposed during a Pearl Jam concert at Hyde Park. Rock and roll!"

Chris also once joked about the cultural differences between him and his Brazilian spouse and told Brighton Magazine: "As you can imagine, we are very different in terms of our culture, and our biological response to temperature. Whereas my wife will still require a winter coat in 22-degree sunshine, I struggle to function in anything warmer than about 26."

The comedian then jibed that the weather brings 'conflict' to their relationship. He added: "This obviously creates a great deal of conflict when the central heating comes into question. I talk about this in [my stand-up] show, but I think there is a good chance that one of us may one day be found dead in the hallway with one arm reaching out towards the thermostat, with the other one of us having skipped the country."

In a separate interview, Chris bravely opened up about his fears around parenting. The star said his impaired vision, caused by retinits pigmentosa, heartbreakingly made him worry that he would only be "half a day" which caused him "a lot of torment". He told the Daily Mail: "I was in such a dilemma about it because I knew I would regret not having kids, but the thought of having kids terrified me. The idea of being a parent and all of the things I was going to be unable to do properly.

"My dad, all the things he used to do with me as a kid, taking me to different places, and the time he put in helping me build things. You go 'how am I going to be able to do those things - I'm not going to be a proper dad, I'm going to be a half dad'. That kind of really caused me a lot of torment in my head."

Chris' fears were completely unfounded, however, as he's described fatherhood as "amazing" and seems to be a brilliant dad to his daughter. The star said: "Weirdly, I think I wanted a girl because I figured if we got a girl I could be a loving dad, but some of the practical obligations that fall on dads they'd fall more on [his wife] Patricia because she'd be a girl."

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