Alan Titchmarsh has opened up about his experience with hearing loss, in a bid to end the “stigma”.
The presenter – who is on screens on Sunday (December 22) for Love Your Weekend – has a career that spans five decades.
And recently, in a candid confession, Alan revealed he now uses “invisible” hearing aids.
Alan Titchmarsh on his hearing loss
In a new interview, Alan spoke about his experience with hearing loss.
Talking to Jane Garvey and Fi Glover on Times Radio, Alan said: “There’s a stigma attached to them isn’t there, you know old folk with hearing aids. But I know several young people who are having to wear hearing aids and feel absolutely devastated by it.”
There’s a stigma attached to them isn’t there, you know old folk with hearing aids.
The green-fingered god then went on to praise Strictly Come Dancing star Tasha Ghouri, who is deaf and uses a cochlear implant.
Alan Titchmarsh ‘doesn’t mind people knowing’
“I think people like Tasha Ghouri on Strictly Come Dancing are such beacons of hope and just get on with it. We all have problems and as you get older, particularly with men, it’s your upper register that seems to go,” Alan said.
He went on: “So I do wear hearing aids, particularly for television, and it just crisps things up. They’re invisible, they’re behind my ears. But I don’t mind people knowing.”
Fed up with the “stigma” Alan declared: “More folks [should] stand up and say: ‘Oh for goodness sake, get real, it happens as you get a bit older.'”
He continued: “You know I’m not stone deaf, my family don’t have to shout. They do tell me I hear more now than I used to hear before.”
Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh airs on Sunday (December 22) at 9:30am on ITV1.
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