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Christopher John McCausland (born 15 June 1977) is an English comedian and actor. He is known to television audiences for his role as Rudi in the CBeebies show Me Too!. He regularly appears at comedy venues around the UK, including The Comedy Store. McCausland is blind due to retinitis pigmentosa.

In December 2024, McCausland won the twenty-second series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with professional dancer Dianne Buswell.

Early life

Christopher John McCausland was born on 15 June 1977 in West Derby Village in Liverpool and has lived in Surbiton, near Kingston upon Thames, since 1996, after moving there to study at Kingston University. He graduated in 2000, with a BSc Honours in Software Engineering. After a spell as a web developer, deteriorating eyesight prompted a change of direction and he worked in sales for a number of years, during which time he first performed stand-up comedy in 2003.

Stand-up comedy

McCausland first gave stand-up a go at a new act comedy night in a room above a pub in Balham in July 2003. Within his first year of performing, he won the Jongleurs J2O Last Laugh competition, came runner up in the Laughing Horse New Act of The Year and came third in Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny? competition.

Between 2005 and 2012, he took six stand-up shows to the Edinburgh Festival and in 2011 was awarded the Creative Diversity Award for comedy by a Channel 4-led panel of broadcasters which also included BBC, ITV and Sky. He has performed all over the world, including across Asia and the Middle East, and regularly travels the UK playing the country's top comedy clubs. He appeared on the BBC's Live at the Apollo on 4 January 2018 and hosted the show on 7 January 2022.

Television

In 2014, McCausland fronted a national television advert for Barclays, promoting the benefits of their new talking cash machines. Also in 2014, he starred in the Jimmy McGovern drama series Moving On, alongside Anna Crilly and Neil Fitzmaurice. In 2012, he appeared alongside fellow comedians in Jimmy Carr's Comedians Special charity episode of Celebrity Deal or No Deal.

He appeared in three series of At The Comedy Store in 2008 for Paramount Comedy as well as in 2010 and 2012 for Comedy Central. In 2010, he featured in BBC One's end of year spoof news review, Unwrapped with Miranda Hart. In 2011, he appeared in ITV's series Stand-up Hero.

McCausland was also one of the principal characters in the CBeebies series Me Too!, playing Rudi the market trader. Filmed in 2006, it aired on CBeebies and internationally until April 2016. On 20 August 2018, he appeared in the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders.

On 18 October 2019, he appeared on the BBC comedy panel show Would I Lie to You?.

Chris has established himself as a regular panellist on the BBC satirical news show, Have I Got News for You, making six appearances since his November 2019 debut. His most recent appearance was May 2024.

In February 2020, he appeared on an episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown on Channel 4. Despite his poor eyesight, Chris scored highly throughout the episode, playing by memory alone, and even correctly guessed the difficult end of game "Countdown Conundrum" before the sighted panellists. During the show, presenter Jimmy Carr produced blindfolds for the other contestants and encouraged them to try playing without sight.

On 15 January 2021, he appeared again on the BBC One show Would I Lie to You?

In July 2022, Channel 4 announced McCausland would present a four-part travelogue series, provisionally titled The Wonders of the World I Can't See. The series aired in June and July 2023.

In April 2023, he was a contestant in the Channel 4 reality television series Scared of the Dark.

In December 2023, he was a contestant on Richard Osman's House of Games.

In March 2024, he featured in Not Going Out Series 13, Ep 5, "The Train".

On 29 June 2024, his Saturday morning chatshow The Chris McCausland Show premiered on ITV1.

From September 2024 McCausland competed in the twenty-second series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, despite never having seen the show, where he was partnered by professional dancer Dianne Buswell. He is the first blind contestant to appear on the show. In week 3 the couple danced a jive to the "Wayne's World Theme" and scored 30 points; in week 4 they danced a salsa to "Down Under" and again scored 30 points; and in week 5 they danced a waltz to "You'll Never Walk Alone" and scored 35 points. The couple became the 100th Strictly couple to perform in Blackpool. In the semi-finals they danced a Charleston and a Viennese Waltz, the latter of which scored 36 points. They were announced as the series winners.

Film

Radio

McCausland was a guest on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity in February 2023. His hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "a vinyl record".

Since March 2023, he has hosted a Radio 4 panel game about sound clips, called "You Heard It Here First".

In April 2024, he featured on BBC Radio 4’s Room 101.

Personal life

McCausland lives with his wife and daughter.

He is a supporter of Liverpool F.C..

References

1. "Chris McCausland". Plex. Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
2. McCausland, Christopher John (15 June 2023). "Cheers mate. Right back at ya!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023 – via Twitter.
3. McCausland, Christopher John (2 July 2022). "Today this 45-year-old bloke is as giddy as a teenager. First concert since before the pandemic. All the way from Hollywood… Gguns N' fucking Roses 🤣🤘🏻" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023 – via Twitter.
4. Swain, Marianka (2 June 2024). "Why blind comedian Chris McCausland is an inspired choice for scandal-hit Strictly" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
5. ^ Samuelson, Kate (9 January 2016). "The ECHO meets the West Derby stand up who wouldn't let blindness ruin his comedy career". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
6. Guide, British Comedy (23 July 2021). "Chris McCausland - First Gig, Worst Gig". British Comedy Guide.
7. "Live at the Apollo Series 16, Episode 1 - Chris McCausland, Sophie Duker, Emmanuel Sonubi". Comedy.co.uk.
8. "BBC One - Would I Lie to You?, Series 13, Episode 1". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
9. "Would I Lie to You S14 E2. Stephen Hendry, Laura Whitmore, Chris McCausland, Maisie Adam". 15 January 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2023 – via YouTube.
10. "New four-part travelogue series from Open Mike Productions for Channel 4 starring Chris McCausland". Channel4.com. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
11. "The Wonders of the World I Can't See". Chortle. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
12. Henry, Grace (14 April 2023). "Scared of the Dark's Chris McCausland on experiencing show with blindness". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
13. "ITV Show for Chris McCausland coming very soon!". chrismccausland.com/news. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
14. "Strictly Come Dancing". The Independent.
15. "Strictly Come Dancing 2024: Chris McCausland and JB Gill announced as first two celebrity contestants". BBC News. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
16. Nanji, Noor (14 December 2024). "Strictly winners crowned after glitzy live final". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
17. Muir, Ellie; McGrath, Rachel (14 December 2024). "Strictly final live: Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell win Glitterball Trophy in tear-jerking finale". The Independent. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
18. "Sky unveils official trailer for 2024 Christmas special 'Bad Tidings' starring Chris McCausland, Lee Mack and Rebekah Staton". skygroup.sky. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
19. "The Museum of Curiosity - Series 17 - Episode 1". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
20. "BBC Radio 4 - You Heard It Here First, Series 1, Episode 1".

Further reading

• Rose, Beth (24 June 2022). "How does blind comedian Chris McCausland play the HIGNFY picture round?". BBC News. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
• Logan, Brian (20 June 2022). "Chris McCausland: Speaky Blinder review – genial gags for midlife grumps everywhere". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2024.

External links

• Personal website
• Chortle review
• Tour dates on Ents24
• Chris McCausland at IMDb

• 1977 births
• Living people
• 20th-century English comedians
• 20th-century English male actors
• 21st-century English comedians
• 21st-century English male actors
• Alumni of Kingston University
• Blind actors
• English actors with disabilities
• English blind people
• Comedians from Liverpool
• English male comedians
• English male television actors
• Male actors from Liverpool
• Strictly Come Dancing winners
• Television presenters with disabilities