Judi Dench, 90, Can’t Go Out Alone Anymore Due to Vision Loss: ‘I’ll Walk into Something or Fall Over’

Judi Dench is giving an update on her vision loss.

The Academy Award winner, 90, appeared on the latest episode of the Trinny Woodall’s Fearless podcast and briefly discussed her eye disease, revealing that she can no longer go out on her own.

“Somebody will always be with me,” she said on the show. “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. I have no idea why… 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,” she said with a laugh.

Dench has macular degeneration in her eyes, which can cause permanent and rapid central vision loss, according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s the No. 1 cause of vision loss in people over 50.

The Belfast actress first revealed that she was diagnosed with macular degeneration in 2012 after speculation about her eyesight.

During a 2021 event for the London-based Vision Foundation, Dench explained how she had been coping with her worsening eyesight when she had to read scripts.

“You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult,” she admitted. “I’ve had to find another way of learning lines and things, which is having great friends of mine repeat them to me over and over and over again.”

She added, “So I have to learn through repetition, and I just hope that people won’t notice too much if all the lines are completely hopeless!”

And, during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in February 2023, Dench said another reason it’s hard to memorize lines is because she has a photographic memory

“I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page,” the Philomena star said. “I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of Twelfth Night right now.”