BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Chris McCausland reveals 'conflict' with rarely-seen Brazilian wife

Liverpool comic Chris McCausland is married to a woman from South America and the different climates the pair grew up in causes a certain amount of bickering in their home

New Strictly Come Dancing contestant Chris McCausland is loved up with his Brazilian wife Patricia - but the comedian's relationship with the psychologist can at times be fiery.

Chris, 47, even jokes that the couple's battles over central heating may well lead to murder one day - due to the different climates the pair grew up in. "As you can imagine, we are very different in terms of our culture and our biological response to temperature," he told Brighton Magazine.

"Whereas my wife will still require a winter coat in 22 degree sunshine, I struggle to function in anything warmer than about 26. 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."

Chris, the first blind contestant to appear in the reality TV contest, and Patricia live in London with their daughter Sophie. The couple once appeared on David Mitchell's Outsiders, where they were asked by Alan Davies: "On a scale of 1 to 10 how happy are you in your relationship?"

"I'll go for a good, solid nine and a half," said Patricia, with Chris looking shocked. He went onto agree with his wife, sticking to his guns as Alan asked for his 'real' number. The host went onto joke: 'Do you fight often?'

Born in Liverpool, the stand-up comic is also known to audiences as Rudi in the CBeebies show Me Too! He is a regular panellist on Have I Got News For You?

The star was born with a genetic condition called retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and became a web designer until his eyesight deteriorated. "I was unemployed for maybe a year and a half and in the end I got a job doing business sales," he told the Liverpool Echo. "It was really, really boring stuff - just filling the time until I figured out what I properly wanted to do.

"Then, when I was 26, I got shingles and was signed off from work for two weeks. I was bored out of my head and as a dare from myself I decided to have a go at stand-up."

Chris was a natural talent and he has already become a favourite with Strictly viewers for his quick wit as programme hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly interviewed the Strictly contestants. Referring to his fellow competitor Dr Punam Krishan, he quipped: "Can I just say none of us can believe we managed to get in the same room as a GP!"

Strictly Come Dancing airs tonight on BBC One at 7pm