Celebrities with vision loss - Judi Dench ‘going blind’ to Elton John's 'distress'
Many well known names are struggling with their eyesight.
Dame Judi Dench has admitted her eyesight is failing.
(Image: Getty)While celebrities have the best doctors at their disposal many of them are suffering with an affliction medics struggle with - eyesight issues. While there are treatments for some conditions, and prescription glasses can aid in others, in some cases there is no real cure. Quite often all that can be done is to slow down a condition or help those suffering adapt to it.
The NHS recommends eye tests every two years. It is a requirement for people who drive but everyone should be having one. While this can identify if people need glasses it also help to detect any early signs of eye disease. Tests are widely available across the UK and certain opticians even do house calls where necessary. Sadly for these celebrities there conditions can't be reversed, but they soldier on regardless to entertain the public while disguising their own personal struggles.
Judi Dench
Iconic actress Dame Judi Dench has admitted she is now so blind she cannot see the TV or go out alone. The 90-year-old star of stage and screen was diagnosed with macular degeneration in 2012, and in a recent interview at Bury St Edmunds’ Theatre Royal she said: “When I go to the theatre, I can’t see. Hopeless."
(Image: Getty)
Claudia Winkleman
Departing Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman has been open about her struggle with a chronic eye condition, which makes her trademark look all the more impressive. The revealing she has “never really” been able to see her own face in the mirror despite having such a distinctive style.
Speaking on the How To Fail podcast she revealed: "I was born, I think, with minus 15 (vision), so I’ve never really been able to see my face. It’s all guesswork." She has seemingly has undergone several operations in an effort to improve her vision and admitted that at times it made presenting difficult, including struggling to read an autocue.
More recently, she has had further changes to her eyesight and she now also experiences long-sightedness.
(Image: Getty)
Richard Osman
The former Pointless presenter confessed the reason he never used an autocue on the show due to having "very severely" impaired sight.
He told the Radio Times: "I don’t work visually at all. I am very much a words person rather than a pictures person, and I always have been. I’ve got to sit right up to the telly if I want to see a picture, so I can’t do visual.
I write my own script and I’ll learn it, then [on screen] my eyes can go wherever I want them to. It’s what I’ve always done, to be honest. When I was at school, I just had to learn everything because I couldn’t see the board. So long as I’m not on autocue, I can relax."
(Image: Getty)
Elton John
Elton's glasses have been a feature for the duration of his career. However he has recently admitted even the sight aids aren't helping him anymore. In a 2024 social media post he revealed a “severe eye infection” had left him “with only limited vision in one eye”. He expaned on this in an interview with the Times where he confessed he “can’t see the telly” and he hadn't “been able to see anything since last July”.
“I can’t read. I can’t see my boys playing rugby and soccer, and it has been a very stressful time because I’m used to soaking it all up. It’s distressing," he said.
(Image: Getty)