Dame Judi Dench, 90, has shared a heartbreaking health update, admitting: “I can’t see any more.”
The legendary actress – who has described losing her eyesight as “one of the most traumatic moments” of her life – has been battling advanced macular degeneration since 2012. And it’s now having a devastating impact on her life.
Dame Judi Dench shares sight loss update
She told the Daily Mail: “I can’t see any more. When I go to the theatre, I can’t see. Hopeless.”
Dame Judi has been managing to keep up with Celebrity Traitors, though, which her pal Celia Imrie had a starring role on. She said: “Somebody told me what was happening. I want to hear the dirt that went on.”
‘Something I have learnt to cope with’
In 2012, Judi was diagnosed with advanced macular degeneration. AMD is a common condition which affects the middle part of your vision. It usually first affects people in their fifties and sixties. It doesn’t cause blindness. However, it can make everyday activities, such as reading and recognising faces, much more difficult.
In a statement announcing her diagnosis back in 2012, she said: “In response to the numerous articles in the media concerning my eye condition – macular degeneration – I do not wish for this to be overblown.
“This condition is something that thousands and thousands of people all over the world are having to contend with. It’s something that I have learnt to cope with and adapt to – and it will not lead to blindness.”
In 2024, Judi became patron of the Yorkshire Macular Degeneration Fund, which supports research into vision loss and blindness.
‘I can’t see much’
Previously, Dame Judi confessed her vision loss was so bad she could not go outside alone, admitting in January: “I have to [go out with someone] now because I can’t see, and I walk into something.”
Speaking on The Graham Norton Show back in 2023, she also revealed how the condition has impacted her work. The actress revealed that it had become “impossible” for her to read a script.
“It has become impossible,” she said. “And because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page. I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of Twelfth Night right now,” she added.
Dame Judi previously said she didn’t want the condition to force her into retirement. “I don’t want to retire,” she told Louix Theroux on his BBC2 show. “I’m not doing much at the moment because I can’t see. It’s bad.”
She added to the Mail: “I can’t see on a film set any more. I can’t see to read. So I can’t see much. But you know, you just deal with it. Get on. It’s difficult for me if I have any length of a part. I haven’t yet found a way.”
Read more: Judi Dench emotional as late husband’s watch gets repaired by The Repair Shop team
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