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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Christopher Megrath

Dame Judi Dench struggling to read and eat because of condition

Dame Judi Dench's age-related degenerative condition is leaving her struggling to see.

The legendary actress sat down with documentarian Louis Theroux as part of his new upcoming series of interviews. While discussing her incredible catalogue of work, she revealed she has been battling Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), according to Metro.

AMD affects the middle part of a person's sight and is usually prevalent in 50 to 60-year-olds. Despite her condition, Dame Judi said she refuses to let it get the better of her.

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She said: "I don’t want to retire. I’m not doing anything much at the moment because I can’t see. It’s bad, bad enough. Bad enough in that you’re quite fuzzy.

"I’ve got to teach myself a new way of learning. I have a photographic memory so a person saying to me, 'This is your line' - I can do that. And I have many people who can help me. Nevertheless, I realise that I need to know where it is on the page. I’ll teach myself a way, I know I will. So long as I don’t trip over doing it."

The actress went on to say there are times she has to rely on her partner, David Mills, to cut up her food as she's no longer able to see what's on her plate. Recalling a recent incident, she said: "I went to a dinner a few weeks ago, a rather important dinner.

"It was so dark that I said to David, who was next to me, 'Have I anything on my plate?' He said, 'Yes'. I said, 'Does it need cutting up?' So he said, 'Yes' and I said, 'Would you do it?' He cut it up and handed something to me on a fork and that’s the way I ate it."

Louis Theroux Interviews: Dame Judi Dench airs on BBC Two at 9:15 pm, November 1.

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