Strictly’s Chris McCausland admits he ‘worried’ wife Patricia would have to ‘pick up a lot of slack’ when raising their daughter Sophie, 11, as he gives rare insight into fatherhood

Strictly Come Dancing’s Chris McCausland has given a rare insight into fatherhood in a candid new interview.

The blind comedian, 47, shares daughter Sophie, 11, with his wife Patricia, but he prefers to keep his private life under wraps and does not share images of his family on social media.

Now, Chris has opened up on how his sight loss impacted him as a father and put more pressure on his wife.

He told The Guardian it has only been in the last 10 years or so that he says: ‘I’ve maybe been comfortable in my own skin and happy to be me’.

Admitting it had a lot to do with the birth of his daughter, he went on: ‘I think that really changes your outlook on life and yourself,’

Speaking about the impact of sight loss on parenthood, he said: ‘Whereas being a dad, you can’t just decide to find something else to do. I worried about it a lot, and there’s a lot of slack that my wife picks up, a lot of the logistical stuff.’

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Strictly Come Dancing’s Chris McCausland has given a rare insight into fatherhood in a candid new interview

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The blind comedian, 47, shares daughter Sophie, 11, with his wife Patricia (pictured), but he prefers to keep his private life under wraps and does not share images of his family on social media

Chris previously confessed that having children ‘terrified him’ as he worried he wouldn’t be able to do things properly and would be a ‘half dad’.

Speaking in an interview with Gyles Brandreth , Chris explained: ‘I was in such a dilemma about it because I knew I would regret not having kids, but the thought of having kids terrified me.

‘I want to be good at things, I want to do things I’m good at, which is why I didn’t end up being a website designer. I would have done it, but I wouldn’t have been as good as I could have been if I could see what I was doing.

And that idea of doing something to a lower standard because of my eyesight ultimately stops me from doing a lot of things that I’ve enjoyed. Even football, blind people play football. If I can’t play football properly I didn’t want to play football.’

The star continued: ‘The idea of being a parent and all of the things I was going to be unable to do properly. My dad, all the things he used to do with me as a kid, taking me to different places, and the time he put in helping me build things.

‘You go “how am I going to be able to do those things – I’m not going to be a proper dad, I’m going to be a half dad”. That kind of really caused me a lot of torment in my head.

‘Weirdly, I think I wanted a girl because of that, because I figured if we got a girl I could be a loving dad, but some of the practical obligations that fall on dads they’d fall more on Patricia because she’d be a girl.

‘There wouldn’t be blokes’ things that I would then not be able to take my son to. But being a dad has been amazing.’

It comes just one day after Chris was seen for the first time since making it through to the show’s quarter final.

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Now, Chris, who is currently appearing on Strictly as the first blind contestant, has opened up on how his sight loss impacted him as a father and put more pressure on his wife

Chris McCausland shares what it was like to go blind

He enjoyed a casual walk with his wife Patricia in West London before popping to a coffee shop together.

Chris, dressed down in a black zip-up sweater and white sports cap, was supported by Patricia, who tenderly looped her arm into his.

Patricia echoed her husband’s relaxed attire, donning a brown sweater and loose-fitting jeans.

The star looked in good spirits as he enjoyed some downtime from rehearsals with dance partner Diane Buswell.

At one point, Chris was seen standing outside of the coffee shop alone and busied himself with his mobile phone as Patricia presumably picked up their beverages inside.

Chris tied the knot with psychologist wife Patricia in 2012, after he popped the question Pearl Jam concert at Hyde Park.

The couple met back in 2005 when star Chris was performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where Patricia was filming a documentary about the festival.

The couple live in a flat in Surbiton with 11-year-old daughter Sophie and pet dog Dora.

The star recently joked the addition of pooch Dora into the family was a ‘point of contention’ for him and his wife.

Speaking during a recent appearance on the Oh My Dog! podcast , Chris said: ‘This is the point of contention. I have a horrible feeling I might come across as the most unlikeable guest you’ve had on the series.

‘So Dora, I would like to say it was a family decision. There are three in our family. Me, my wife, my daughter. It was something that was discussed at great length.

‘I was against the idea of getting a dog at that time, for lots of reasons. As a comedian, I travel a lot, I’m not around much. I knew it would massively restrict my wife and daughter’s ability to be out and socialise.’

He told how he suggested that they waited until they have more space in their family home before adding to their family but he was overuled.

He added: ‘It would be one of those things that I got blamed for even though it wasn’t my decision to get a dog.

‘We live in a flat still with no immediate access to outside. I was like: “Well why don’t we just leave it a little bit. When we moved house we can look at getting a dog, and we can get a proper size dog”.’

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Chris and Dianne’s success on Saturday means they make it through to the quarter final

Chris McCausland and Diane Buswell dance in Strictly’s Samba-thon

Chris and Dianne’s success on Saturday means they make it through to the quarter final.

Jamie Borthwick and his partner Michelle Tsiakkas were the latest pair to be eliminated after facing the dance-off against Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe.

Chris’ outing comes after he broke his silence after furious Strictly fans branded the Samba-thon ‘discriminatory, unfair and in poor taste’.

The funnyman took to the dancefloor on Saturday night to compete in a high drama Samba-thon involving all seven couples on the floor at the same time.

But viewers thought Chris was at an unfair disadvantage because he has no concept of spatial awareness, despite judges actively encouraging the celebs ‘move around’ the floor.

Chris and his professional dance partner Dianne were the first couple to be sent off of the ballroom floor.

Going off the dancefloor first meant Chris and Dianne were only awarded one point, placing them second to bottom of the judges’ scoreboard.

But in their solo performance later in the episode, they delivered a fiery pasodoble for their performance tonight, which earned them 32 points.

Fans on X wrote: ‘I find it shocking they chose this year to bring back the sambathon when Chris cannot see any of the other couples/be spatially aware of other couples. Like of course he’s gonna get voted off first? Not in good taste in my opinion’,

‘I’m sorry but the sambathon was very discrimatory against Chris, he had no perception of where the others were and he wasn’t able to do half the moves the other couples were doing because he had to be connected to Dianne, very poor from’,

‘Had it been an annual thing, that’s one thing… but they chose to bring it back!!! It was deliberated! Selected! Put in place! With a BLIND and very popular contestant! MAD!!!’,

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Chris’ outing comes after he broke his silence after furious Strictly fans branded the Samba-thon ‘discriminatory, unfair and in poor taste’

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The blind comedian took to the dancefloor on Saturday night to compete in a high drama Samba-thon involving all seven couples on the floor at the same time

‘Could have had money on Chris being the 1st out. Wholly unfair. The way he cheered for the 1 point, I think was his way of saying f you’,

‘To be honest it was a bit of a joke as far as Chris was concerned, and it obviously didn’t bother him. He’s going to get through anyway, it’s the rest that are scrabbling for places’.

After viewers branded the samba-thon ‘discriminatory’ towards Chris, he took to Instagram to reflect on his performance.

He wrote: ‘I was really proud of our dance on Saturday, and as for the Sambathon….[zipped-mouth emoji] ….Well thank you so much for all of your votes.

‘You really did help us survive double Latin! See you tomorrow partner [ Dianne Buswell ], I’ll be bringing earplugs❤️’