Chris McCausland’s journey from salesman to TV show winner

Comedian Chris McCausland has won the 22nd series of Strictly Come Dancing after beating 14 other celebrities to this year’s glitterball trophy.

He has been praised throughout the series for defying expectations of what a blind person can achieve on the dancefloor.

McCausland, 47, was registered blind after losing his sight to retinitis pigmentosa in his 20s.

But who is the man who has charmed viewers of the Saturday night dancing competition?

McCausland was born in 1977 in Liverpool, but moved to south-west London in the mid-1990s to study software engineering at Kingston University.

After graduating, he became a software developer, but had to change careers when his eyesight deteriorated.

He told the i newspaper in 2023 that he had lost his sight completely by the age of 22, from a hereditary condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which his grandmother and mother also had.

His condition means the light sensitive cells of his retinas gradually deteriorated until he could no longer see.

“Basically, I’d been going blind very slowly since I was born, and so didn’t even really notice it happening – like the frog in the pan of boiling water,” he said.

His next job was in sales, which was “really boring stuff” and “just filling the time until I figured out what I properly wanted to do”, he told the Liverpool Echo in 2016.

The turning point came when McCausland was 26.

“I got shingles and was signed off from work for two weeks,” he said.

“I was bored out of my head and as a dare from myself I decided to have a go at stand-up.”

That first comedy gig went so well that he got “the stand-up bug”, he said, and he’s been doing it ever since.

He went on to compete in several new talent competitions and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe for six years between 2005 and 2012.

His TV career began in 2006 when he became one of the main characters in CBeebies show Me Too!, playing a blind market trader called Rudi.

Comedy producers also started recognising his talent. He appeared in Paramount series At The Comedy Store from 2008, and won a Creative Diversity award in 2011 for comedy, which was awarded by a panel of broadcasters including Channel 4, BBC, ITV and Sky.

As he continued to make his name, his inclusion on an episode of BBC One panel show Would I Like to You? in 2019 prompted a debate about a lack of disability inclusion on British television.

He was no token booking, and his comedy skills also saw him in demand for shows including Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News for You and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.

Meanwhile, other acting credits include episodes of Jimmy McGovern’s Moving On and EastEnders.

Strictly Come Dancing bosses asked McCausland to take part twice, but he turned them down both times because he feared he would be out of his “comfort zone”.

“My concern,” he told the Times in October, “was that it would be a disaster. I honestly thought it could be a car crash.”

He was eventually persuaded at the third time of asking, and his fears have been unfounded.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme last month, he said his participation on the show had been “extreme”, but he hoped it would “go some way in stretching people’s ideas of what is possible for a person with disabilities”.

He added: “I think there are low expectations of people with disabilities – sometimes you’ll come down a set of steps into a taxi and people say, ‘Wow, how did you do that?'”

He and professional dancer Dianne Buswell became the show’s 100th couple to perform at the Blackpool Ballroom – the famous midway point in the series.

One of this year’s standout Strictly moments was his and Buswell’s dance to Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon.

The pair briefly performed in the dark, to show the judges and audience what is was like for McCausland on the show.

Judge Craig Revel Horwood described it as the “poignant blackout moment” and “absolutely spectacular”.

The pair performed the same dance again in the final, along with other routines to You Get What You Give by New Radicals and You’ll Never Walk Alone by Gerry and the Pacemakers.

Speaking before the final about his relationship with Buswell, who has reached the final twice before, McCausland said: “They [Strictly bosses] knew that Dianne would be the best partner for me. In terms of her humour, outlook on life, just the similarities between us and her communication.

“I think they just knew how good we would work together, so I’m grateful for that.”

He has also entertained viewers with his quick-witted quips during interviews.

After 20 years as a rising star of comedy, McCausland’s Strictly success has now secured his place as one of Britain’s most popular TV personalities.