Chris McCausland, who won the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing, has opened up about his 'struggle' - and it's not what you might expect for the stand-up comedian
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Comedian Chris McCausland has opened up about the challenges of living with blindness, candidly admitting that it's the "little things" in life he struggles with. As he spoke on the Double Tap podcast, the 47-year-old Strictly Come Dancing champ revealed that simple activities like shopping are more daunting to him than performing stand-up.
"I'm on the tele and I do all these things and people think I must be really capable. I was talking to somebody about this yesterday. I could travel around the country and do comedy clubs, I've done this for over two decades and I could play to hundreds of people in comedy clubs," he shared.
He went on to contrast his ease on stage with his personal hardships: "I'm on tour now doing thousands of people in rooms. I can't go to the shops and get a loaf of bread, the anxiety of that situation is too much for me."
Chris admitted that while he's accustomed to big performances, day-to-day tasks are another story: "There's things that we all struggle with and for me it's the little things. The big things are not a problem because I've spent 20 years doing them, but the little things for me. I hated it."
In his discussion, Chris didn't just talk about his own experiences; he also delved into societal attitudes towards disabled individuals, expressing hope that his high-profile stint on Strictly can make even a small difference in perceptions, reports Devon Live.
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Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell (Image: BBC) He said: "The only reason I use the word normal is not because generally speaking blind people aren't normal, but because the general, wider attitude towards blindness is that we aren't normal, that we're not as normal as them.
"And that's where the problem comes from. So I try and represent as normally as possible and I find that the interactions with people who see me on the tele have become a lot more natural and a lot more comfortable.
"I hope that me being on the tele and doing these things in some way filters down a little bit and lets other people interact with people with disabilities just a little bit more naturally and casually than maybe they might have thought of doing in the past. That's a pipe dream."
Chris has previously been open about his experiences surrounding his time on the BBC show. Speaking to Kate Thornton on 'White Wine Question Time', he shared his initial hesitations about joining the programme.
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Chris McCausland He explained: "I'd said no to it quite a lot of times because I thought it could be a disaster. And so, there was no point in me pretending it was this dream to be on it, but there's no point in me being on it, especially coming from the point of view of somebody who's blind, somebody with a disability."
Chris also mentioned that once he decided to participate, he was determined to challenge preconceptions and demonstrate that his blindness wouldn't hinder his ability to dance well.
He elaborated: "There's no point in being on it and being as rubbish as everybody would expect, so you've got to take it seriously, you've got to put the hours in.
"The only point in being on it is to surprise people and to challenge preconceptions, otherwise you do nobody any good, you do yourself no good and you do the people that you inadvertently represent no good.
"For me, if I knew I'd done a good job in the dance, I'd done myself proud."
