Judi Dench reveals she can't go out alone due to vision loss: 'Somebody will always be with me'

Dame Judi Dench is giving fans an update on her worsening eyesight.

The heavily awarded British actor, who turned 90 last month, has revealed that she is no longer able to attend events alone due to vision loss. While chatting with Trinny Woodall on her Fearless podcast, the Belfast actress admitted that she's never been a fan of attending events alone to begin with — and now, no longer has to.

“I’m not good at that at all," she said of walking red carpets alone. "Not at all. Nor would I be now. And fortunately, I don’t have to be now.”

Related: Judi Dench is a 'slut,' according to her pet parrot

Joking that she has "no eyesight," she explained, "somebody will always be with me. I have to now because I can’t see and I will walk into something or fall over.” 

Back in 2012, Dench opened up about her ongoing struggle with macular degeneration, a condition known to cause permanent and rapid central vision loss, according to the Mayo Clinic. It is a common cause of age-related vision loss, and the No. 1 cause of vision loss in people over 50.

"In response to the numerous articles in the media concerning my eye condition - macular degeneration - I do not wish for this to be overblown," Dench said at the time. "This condition is something that thousands and thousands of people all over the world are having to contend with. It's something that I have learnt to cope with and adapt to - and it will not lead to blindness."

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

A decade later, Dench divulged that the condition has significantly impacted her ability to remember lines.

"It has become impossible and because I have a photographic memory," Dench told I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page," Dench said during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show. "I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of Twelfth Night right now."

All that said, Dench maintained that she was determined to persevere.

"You find a way of just getting about and getting over the things that you find very difficult," she said. "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."

Related: How Judi Dench inspired Kenneth Branagh to make All Is True

She recalled one instance where, while starring in a West End production of The Winter's Tale alongside Kenneth Branaugh, he told her, "Judi, if you were to say that speech about eight feet to your right, you'd be saying it to me and not to the [proscenium]."

She added, "I rely on people to tell me!"

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly