Dame Judi Dench shares health struggles as she's unable to leave the house alone

7 November 2025, 11:57 | Updated: 14 November 2025, 11:01

James Bond actress reveals her ongoing health condition has meant she's lost her independence and more.

Dame Judi Dench opened up in 2012 about how she was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition which can affect your sight.

Now, at 90 years old, the James Bond actress has shared an update on her health diagnosis and how it has impacted her day to day life and TV and movie career.

With her eye sight severely deteriorating with age, she revealed she is no longer able to leave the house without a chaperone. And now she's confessed she's lost her sight altogether.

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Talking at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, where she acts as a patron, she said: "I can’t see any more. When I go to the theatre, I can’t see. Hopeless."

Judi, who won an Oscar for her role in Shakespeare in Love, has previously spoke about how the eye condition had been changing the way she lives. In January 2025 she spoke on Trinny Woodall's Fearless podcast and admitted she needed help every time she leaves the house.

"I have to [have someone] now because I can’t see. And I will walk into something or fall over. I’m always nervous before going to something."

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However, despite living with AMD for more than a decade now, Judi remains persistent in her ability to work and catch up on the latest TV gossip.

She admitted that while she can't see much she just "deals with it" when it comes to being on set and reading scripts.

Also, a huge fan of The Traitors, she's had people keeping her up to date with all the action, especially around her pal Celia Imrie.

Judi's eyesight condition affects around 700,000 a year and is a disease that can blur your central vision.

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