Legendary actress Judi Dench shared updates on her battle with vision loss. Speaking to the ‘Fearless’ podcast and Trini Woodall, the star said she can no longer attend events or go out on her own due to her worsening illness and needs someone to be with her ‘always’.

In 2012, the award-winning actress revealed that she was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It is a degenerative eye condition that is the leading cause of sight loss in the UK, affecting over 700,000 people.

“Someone will always be with me. I have to do this because I can’t see and I’ll either trip over something or fall.”Dench said. “I’m always nervous before I go somewhere. I have no idea why. I’m not good at it. At all. I couldn’t be now either. Fortunately it is no longer necessary”he added.

Two years ago, the actress she stated that the illness has affected her career, as she now finds it difficult to learn her roles, whereas in the past she did so largely thanks to her photographic memory. Her most recent film appearance was in the Christmas film Spirited in 2022, which followed the lead role in Alan Bennett’s adaptation of Allelujah in the same year.

According to the Guardian, in 2021, her performance in “Belfast,” written and directed by Kenneth Branagh, earned her her eighth Oscar nomination. The leading actress, in 2019 had mentioned that she had to stop driving due to the problems with her vision, characterizing this decision as “one of the most traumatic moments” of her life.

“It was absolutely terrifying. But I know I could kill someone if I got behind the wheel of a car now.”he had characteristically said.