Inside the Big Issue: Fearless Chris McCausland

After losing his sight in his teens, Strictly Come Dancing star Chris McCausland faced up to his fears in his first open-mic gig.

“I’d tell my younger self, don’t be so embarrassed, don’t feel such shame. I lost most of my sight in my late teens and early 20s and with it the ability to see the computer monitor, to see in the dark,” he told the Big Issue.

“So I also lost the independence that gives you. At that age, you’ve got this desire to be normal. So there was a lot of denial. When you’re losing your sight gradually, there’s never a clear moment when you are forced to deal with it. I’d refuse to be associated with things connected to it, like, ‘I’m not using a stick, I’m going to pretend I can see.’ But you get into more trouble pretending there’s nothing wrong. It wasn’t until I lost my sight completely that I accepted it. Going through that embarrassment and shame toughened me up, though. Which lent itself well to doing stand-up.”

But Chris McCausland says dying on a comedy stage is not nearly as scary as dancing the Foxtrot on national television.

“If you were to ask me about the 10 most scary things I’ve ever done in my life, the top six would be the first six shows of Strictly,” he added. “It is, hands down, the most out of my comfort zone, nerve-wracking thing I’ve done.

Read Chris McCausland’s full letter to his younger self in this week’s magazine.

What else is in this week’s Big Issue?

‘It’s like a death sentence when I’m not guilty’: How the UK is failing women in prison with cancer

After having undergone a 13-hour, triple lumpectomy at London’s University College Hospital in April, Farah woke up chained to a prison officer. “I found myself chained 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” the 57-yearold told Big Issue. Months before, in August 2023, Farah found a lump under her armpit and was soon diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Her terrible treatment is not an anomaly.

How the budget fails people in poverty

It remains to be seen whether Rachel Reeves’s (above) first budget as chancellor will go down in history for charting a new path for the UK as well as being the first delivered by a woman.

With £40bn in tax rises and a pledge to invest in public services, the financial statement took a different approach to recent ones, even if there was still room for the time-honoured tradition of a penny off pints. The budget fell short in tackling poverty, according to Big Issue founder Lord John Bird. The crossbench peer said: “Things will only change if we spend serious money on breaking the cycle of poverty – on preventing and curing poverty.”

Start prepping your turkey now to avoid the rising costs of Christmas

At every level of the food chain, from field to plate, people are adapting to the reality of higher costs and higher prices. What will it mean for Christmas?

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