Strictly winner Chris McCausland turned ‘scariness of sight loss into hope’

Strictly Come Dancing 2024 winner Chris McCausland has turned the “scary” prospect of losing your sight into a “hopeful” story, charities have said.

The 47-year-old comedian became the first blind winner in the BBC One show’s 20-year history, after beating fellow finalists Miranda actress Sarah Hadland, Love Island star Tasha Ghouri and JLS singer JB Gill on Saturday night.

In the early stages of the competition, McCausland, who lost his sight completely by the age of 22, and his partner Dianne Buswell were unsure how “logistically” they would tackle dancing.

However, he won praise from the judges and public for changing perceptions on what people think the blind community was capable of doing, including by doing lifts and intricate routines.

Comedian Chris McCausland has become the first blind winner of Strictly Come Dancing (Guy Levy/BBC/PA)PA Media - Guy Levy/BBC

Debbie Miller, director of customer advice and support at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), told the PA news agency that McCausland has been “absolutely incredible” and inspiring for not just the community of blind and partially sighted people, but everyone.

“I’m not sure they (Dianne and Chris) thought that they could achieve it, and they were quite honest about that,” she added.

“I think generally people would consider losing their eyesight as really scary, and I think that a lot of people feel that way so I think what Chris has done is said, ‘It’s scary, but there’s hope, and anyone can achieve with that opportunity and support’.”

She explained that “if people are willing to adapt and challenge themselves in terms of how they do stuff, then representation will get a lot stronger”, and said that the “whole team at RNIB” have been rallying behind him throughout.

“We’ve heard stories already about people that we’ve supported finding dance clubs or other sports clubs that they can get involved in on the back of seeing Chris, and we know that some studios have looked at it as well and thought, ‘Well, what can we do to change to engage more people?’,” Ms Miller added.

She said clubs often “choose to do nothing”, as they “worry” about what kind of support they should give, and urged them instead to try something and seek feedback from people with disabilities.

One place already bringing about those changes is disability charity Sense, which has dance sessions across the country to teach disabled people to dance and create choreography through accessible resources.

The charity’s resident dance artist Rebecca Randall told PA that Saturday night “felt bigger than a dance competition or a TV show”.

She also said: “You couldn’t help but feel the emotion of the night, it was a very powerful moment. It was a very pivotal moment, really, that will hopefully help disabled people feel more seen and included.”

Ms Randall also said that McCausland’s message of saying things like he can do more than people think, has been “inspiring” for their clients.

She also said that the “barrier of ableism is everywhere”, citing the need for more access to live art, dance and theatre performance, and audio description in venues.

Research carried out by Sense found that more than a third (39%) of disabled people, who make up about a quarter of the population, say that their experiences are never or rarely seen in the media.

She said she hopes that having McCausland along with Ghouri, the second deaf contestant to take part in Strictly, in the final will “encourage a lot more people who might have an interest in dance to go for it”.

Ms Randall added: “The power of that representation through Tasha speaking so personally about her own experiences, and she talked about her confidence building over the series, and I imagine that she’ll have shared that confidence with many, many people watching her at home.

“To have the confidence to do the things that they want to do, and to be in spaces that they may be feeling are not accessible for them at the moment.”

She also said that the “those limitations that we might put on other people or on ourselves, they’re not really relevant, and there’s no limit on what anybody anybody can achieve”.

McCausland has retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary eye disease which causes gradual degeneration of the retina.