Los Angeles, Nov 6 (NationPress) Renowned English actress Dame Judi Dench has disclosed that she can no longer enjoy watching television or attending live performances. The 90-year-old star is afflicted by macular degeneration, a condition that leads to significant and often irreversible loss of central vision, and is the leading cause of vision impairment in individuals over 50.

In a recent statement, reported by ‘Female First UK’, she expressed the challenges posed by her condition in her daily life. During an event at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, of which she serves as a patron, she remarked, “I can't see any more. When I go to the theatre, I can't see. Hopeless.”

As noted by ‘Female First UK’, she has also faced difficulties with watching TV, confessing that she has been unable to see her friend Dame Celia Imrie on the BBC's Celebrity Traitors show. She mentioned, “Somebody told me what was happening. I want to hear the dirt that went on.” Dame Judi first made her struggle with macular degeneration public in 2012 and provided a grim update about her condition in January.

In an episode of Trinny Woodall’s ‘Fearless’ podcast, she explained, “Somebody will always be with me. I have to now because I can’t see and I will walk into something or fall over. I’m always nervous before going to something.” She also admitted, “I’m not good at being on my own at all, nor would I be now. And fortunately, I don’t have to now because I pretend to have no eyesight.”

During a 2021 event for the London-based Vision Foundation, Judi shared her ongoing battle with reading scripts due to her diminishing vision. She stated, “You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult.” Judi has had to adapt her method of learning lines by relying on her friends to repeat them multiple times, hoping that no one notices if her performance falters.