Strictly's Chris McCausland opens up about his 'torment' in emotional family confession | Celebrity News

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Chris McCausland has admitted starting a family “terrifies” him because he fears he won’t be a “proper dad” due to his disability.

Chris, 47, has been blind since the age of 22 after gradually losing his sight at the age of 16 due to retinitis pigmentosa.

According to the NHS, the condition is hereditary and causes progressive degeneration of the light-sensitive cells in the retina.

Chris now shares a 10-year-old daughter, Sophie, with his wife Patricia, but he says the idea of having children had previously “caused turmoil” in his mind.

Appearing on Gyles Brandreth’s Rosebud podcast earlier this year, Chris said: “I was in such a quandary about it because I knew I would regret not having children, but the idea of having children terrified me.

“I want to do things that I’m good at… And this idea of doing something that’s a lower level because of my eyesight ultimately prevents me from doing a lot of things that I’ve enjoyed.

“The idea of being a parent and all the things I couldn’t do properly. My dad, all the things he did with me as a kid, taking me places and the time he spent helping me build things.

“You think, ‘How am I going to do these things? I’m not going to be a real father, I’m going to be a half-father.’ That really caused me a lot of turmoil in my head.”

Leaving his fears behind, Chris and Patricia welcomed Sophie in 2014 and the comedian says being a father has been “incredible”.

He added to Gyles: “Oddly enough, I think I wanted a girl because of that because I thought if we had a girl I could be a loving father, and some of the practical obligations would fall more on Patricia because she was a girl.”

Last month, Chris was announced as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing 2024, despite never having watched the BBC show.

He admitted: “I’ve never watched it. I don’t know what I’m getting into. Ask me when I’m in the second week and I’m used to it. I kept it a secret and it was in the papers, and now at least I can say it.”

Asked on This Morning why he had never watched it, Chris joked that it was no use when you’re blind.

Chris is Strictly’s first blind contestant and has spoken of his feelings of “trepidation” about competing. He said: “Trepidation, massive trepidation. I don’t know what I’m getting into. I’ve never watched it, obviously. It’s just music.”

“I don’t dance, I never danced. I grew up with headbanging and mosh pits.”