Sir Elton John’s friend Janet Street Porter has given an update on her friend after he admitted recently that he was struggling with his vision
Sir Elton John was attending a production of The Devil Wears Prada on London’s West End, alongside his husband David Furnish, when, during a speech following the production, he admitted to the audience: “I’ve lost my eyesight and cannot see the stage.”
The eye infection caused him to lose the eyesight in his right eye, and he also admitted his left eye is not good either, confessing he felt “stuck” at the moment. Now Janet Street-Porter has opened up on Loose Women about Elton’s health.
Speaking on the show, Janet said: “It’s very tough. He’s been on the phone about it, he’s called me. I think it really affected him because he suffers from glaucoma and he had one eye that was OK and another eye which is a weak eye.
Sir Elton John with friends at The Devil Wears Prada musical (
Image:
Dave Benett/Getty Images for The)
“I think the virus got him in the good eye so I think its left him with very very poor vision. It’s impossible for him to read, and it’s very very difficult. It’s made him feel very isolated and he’s a very proud person.”
Admitting Elton wouldn’t have wanted to share the diagnosis, she added: “He would not have wanted to share that because he wouldn’t want people to pity him. He doesn’t want our sympathy, it’s a battle he’s got to fight himself. Nothing we can do for him but send him our love and support. When he started telling me about it, I could see how distressed he was and it really got to me.
“The reason partly is because I’ve got glaucoma in my right eye and very very poor sight in my right eye. I could see what had happened to him and the way he sought all these different remedies and nothing has worked so far, but he’s still optimistic.”
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Elton spoke on stage over the weekend (
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tiktok.com/@aeronjamesuk)
The musician explained how he felt ‘stuck’ (
Image:
Dave Benett/Getty Images for The)
Over the weekend, Elton explained about his eye condition and how it had affected his life and work.
He told theatregoers: “I’ve lost my eyesight and cannot see the stage. As some of you may know I have had issues and now I have lost my sight. I haven’t been able to see the performance but I have enjoyed it. To my husband who’s been my rock because I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews… it’s hard for me to see it but I love to hear it and it sounded good tonight OK.
“It’s been a while since I’ve done anything, and well, I just have to get off my backside. I unfortunately lost my eyesight in my right eye in July because I had an infection in the south of France and it’s been four months now since I haven’t been able to see, and my left eye is not the greatest. So there’s hope and encouragement that it will be OK, but it’s… I’m kind of stuck at the moment, because I can do something like this (an interview), but going into the studio and recording, I don’t know, because I can’t see a lyric for a start.”
