It may be about finding love - and the drama - but Love Island is once again breaking boundaries by including the show's first-ever partially sighted contestant in its brand new winter series.
Last summer, Tasha Ghouri became the show's first deaf contestant. Model and dancer Tasha has been deaf since birth and wears a cochlear implant to allow her to hear. And she was quickly praised by viewers and her fellow islanders when she opened up to them about her 'superpower'.
And Ron Hall will be likely to do the same. Before appearing in the villa, the 25-year-old said it would be "fantastic" if he could raise awareness while on the ITV2 dating show about being partially sighted.
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The financial adviser from Essex is one of the initial 10 contestants who will be trying to find love when the new South African winter series of Love Island on January 16. Bosses over at ITV have rebooted the show's winter edition for only the second time after its first outing back in 2020 in the weeks before the pandemic.
The summer version of the show is usually filmed in Mallorca but during this series, the islanders will be soaking up the sun in South Africa. For the next several weeks, the ITV2 dating show's latest batch of singletons will be residing in a huge £1.2 million villa in the wine region of Franschhoek.
Ron will enter the winter Love Island villa alongside celebrity makeup artist Lana Jenkins, TV salesman Haris Namani, ring girl Olivia Hawkins, student Tanya Manhenga, hair stylist Tanyel Revan, administrator Anna-May Robey, teacher Kai Fagan, airport security officers Shaq Muhammad and farmer Will Young.
Ron lost his sight in one eye while playing football aged eight. He missed year six of school after he was kicked in the face and knocked unconscious while going for a header - although he still went back on the pitch and continued with the match, despite being unable to see.
But he feels the life-changing incident has shaped him as a person "in a really good way" and been a "great conversation starter" when talking to women. Speaking ahead of entering the villa, he said: "I just think of myself as normal, although yeah I am disabled and I don’t mind the label. If I can bring awareness and be vocal about it, then fantastic.
"If there’s someone sitting at home, there’s another lad or girl who’s partially sighted or feels a bit insecure about something to do with their vision, whether it’s blind in one eye, or whatever the situation is, and I can make an impact on them to say, ‘You know what, this guy is confident and he’s gone on this show and he’s still talking to girls with no problem even though he’s got “something wrong with him”‘ then yeah, that’s fantastic if I can do that.
"For me, obviously, I’ve just dealt with it in my own day-to-day. I see it as normal, I’ve had it for 17 years, so I’ve never really thought about it too much. But absolutely, if I can do that for people 100% it would be great."
He admitted that life after his accident was challenging due to the pain from the injury and the mean comments and stares he would get from other children. However, he said he has learned to adapt and turned it into a positive in his life.
"I try and use it to my advantage, it’s a great conversation starter, I’ve got two different colour eyes. All right, one might look a bit funny and a bit cloudy but that’s part and parcel of what life throws at you,” he said. "When dealing with comments and things like that, I’ve got thick skin, I’ve learned to deal with that."
And he added that he feels his ability to deal with confrontation will serve him well in the villa and said he would "one million per cent" call out poor or disrespectful behaviour. In the scenario of say a bloke’s either sworn at another girl or they’re in an argument and he’s said something that he probably shouldn’t have, I like to think I’m a bit of a defuser", he said. "So I will 100% step in and say ‘Look, mate, you’re talking to a girl here just watch your tone’ and calm down the situation."
Whe asked why someone would want to date him, Ron said: "I’m the most genuine person you’ll meet. I’m genuine, caring and I’m a nice person - which you don’t find these days." But he says he's still single because he's 'career focussed'. He said: "I’m career focussed and wanted to enjoy myself and do all the things I wanted to do. I now feel that I’m emotionally ready to say, 'I’m now ready to find someone.'"
Love Island starts at 9pm Monday 16th January on ITV2 and ITVX.
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