Strictly Come Dancing star Kaye Adams has opened up about wearing hearing aids ahead of the start of the 2022 series. The Loose Women presenter, 59, recently shared the news after visiting a Boots audiologist for a hearing test. Kaye is one of 15 celebrities who will be taking to the dancefloor this year. Read here to find out who else is in this series.
Kaye recently opened up about her diagnosis on Loose Women. She told her co-stars: “You don’t go for a test without having your suspicions, so it didn’t come completely out of the blue. But I suppose what did come as a surprise was the advice to have two (hearing aids). In my head I was reconciled to needing one, not two."
She revealed that, upon seeing an audiologist, the reason she requires two hearing aids is because of balance. “It makes sense,” she added. “And I think getting a good understanding of it all is a really big part of accepting it.”
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As well as a recommendation to wear two hearing aids, she has been referred to an ear, nose and throat consultant for further exploration of her conductive hearing loss. Despite being diagnosed in July, The Mirror reports that Kaye is unlikely to have her hearing aids fitted for a few months.
She added: “Life has just become extremely busy, so realistically I think it’ll be after Strictly by the time I get them,” she says. “I’m totally reconciled to it and it’s not for any vanity reason, it’s just down to practicalities and timing.
“I actually had a fitting at my appointment where I was able to hear the difference and it was really interesting. On TV I wear an earpiece anyway and, if anything, I felt like they were more discreet.”
It’s estimated around 11 million people in the UK have hearing loss, and while as many as 6.7 million could benefit from hearing aids, only around 2 million people use them.
“I think there’s so much negativity around hearing aids that doesn’t really exist around other things like specs, for example, which are considered cool,” says Kaye. “I think hearing loss can be associated quite a lot with old age, even though there are loads of reasons you could have it at any age.
“And, actually, when you start to understand it a bit more and how your own experience can be improved, you don’t have that knee-jerk reaction against them.”
Kaye cited EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis - who won Strictly in 2021 - and Love Island star Tasha Ghouri as making a "positive impact". She said: “Rose was on a different level. Not only was she a phenomenal dancer but she’s a really inspirational young woman. While I’m not comparing Tasha with Rose, because Strictly was a very particular experience, Tasha was so relaxed about her cochlear implant, she was wonderful. I think she handled it in a fabulous way. It’s that sort of visibility that makes such a difference.”
The upcoming Strictly Come Dancing launch show - which will see the celebrities paired with their professional partners for the first time - will record on Wednesday, September 7 and be broadcast on BBC One on either Saturday, September 10 or Saturday, September 17. This will be confirmed in due course.
Similar to previous years, the celebrities will then get time to rehearse a dance routine with their new partners. The first live show of the series will be on Saturday, September 24 on BBC One, the series will then continue weekly as normal through to Saturday, December 17 with the live final. Strictly will return to Blackpool's Tower Ballroom on Saturday, November 19.
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