Judi Dench, 91, reveals the full extent of her vision loss as she says her eyesight is now 'completely blown' and can no longer watch TV or read

Dame Judi Dench has revealed the full extent of her vision loss as she says her eyesight is now 'completely blown' and that she can no longer watch TV or read.

The Oscar-winning actress, 91, was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in 2012 while she was still starring in major roles.

The common condition damages the small part of the retina responsible for straight-ahead vision, leaving sufferers struggling to see clearly or recognise faces.

She gave an update on her health in a new interview this week, saying: 'Oh my eyesight is completely blown. It's exactly what my mother had. It's macular degeneration. They can't do anything about it.

'Until not very long ago I used to wear contact lenses. But nobody suggested that stronger ones would do me any good.'

The interviewer sat in front of her then asked: 'So what do you see of me?'

She quickly replied: 'I don't. I can see an outline. I can see your shirt collar and I can see your hands. But you know we could do this interview, we could meet tomorrow and I'd say 'how do you do' because I can't see anybody anymore'. 

Judi added on CBS Sunday Morning: 'Like anyone who's got it, you have to live with it. I can't now see the television, I can't see to read at all. I can't see anything clearly.'

Last month she revealed she can no longer act on stage or in films.

Her last film appearance came in 2022 with a cameo role, but she has graced the small screen several times since – including this year's episode of Tea With Judi Dench with Kenneth Branagh. She also had a voice role in The Magic Faraway Tree, which came out earlier this year.

She told BBC's Today programme about the struggles of AMD, saying: 'I can't be on stage. I can't do a play anymore. I can't do a film anymore. I can't read anymore.'

On ageing, the legend of screen and stage – who won an Academy Award in 1999 for her role in Shakespeare in Love – added: 'There's nothing to say for it at all. [I] don't think about it too much.' 

Everyday encounters are also becoming more tricky for Judi who struggles to recognise people, occasionally giving the wrong person an 'almost hug' by accident.

She has long been keen to adapt to life with deteriorating vision – which has made film sets a tough workplace – adding that radio is 'important' to her.

But she has also been drawing on AI to learn scripts, with the Daily Mail revealing in May that she uses £300 Ray-ban Meta glasses which convert text to speech. 

The glasses – suggested to Judi by vision loss charity Sight for Surrey, of which she is the patron – discreetly play an audio feed only heard by her.

The actress has been keeping busy writing and promoting her new memoir, Is It Too Late To Make A Run For It?, which reflects on her remarkable career in showbusiness.

During the book's promotional run, she has been making a return to the stage, hosting a series of evenings with close friend and writing partner Brendan O'Hea.

The actress – who earned an astonishing 27 Bafta award nominations during a stellar career – has long been outspoken, and this month lashed out at the 2019 movie Cats.

Judi portrayed Old Deuteronomy in the film, which was based on the 1981 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and featured a star-studded cast including James Corden, Taylor Swift, Idris Elba and Jennifer Hudson.

The film was derided by critics and flopped at the box office, grossing just $76million (£61million) on a budget of $100million (£80million).

Judi called the movie a complete catastrophe and even admitted having never seen the finished version.

Writing in her memoir, she recalled: 'Oh God, I can't bear it – and [Lloyd Webber] had waited so long for it to be made.

'What a waste of all that goodwill and talent. I understand the critics were rather hostile to the film. I never saw the final cut so I can't judge.'

The star also hit out at theatres increasingly issuing trigger warnings before performances.

In an extract of her memoir published by The Times magazine, she said: 'I think they have gone too far. It's mollycoddling. If you're that sensitive, don't go to the theatre.

'By all means keep the warnings about strobe lighting and gunshots, and obviously there should be age limits for children, but that's about it.

'Otherwise, where will it end? The trigger warnings before Titus Andronicus would be longer than the play.

'And if you overdo the warnings, doesn't it take away from the audience's enjoyment of the story?

'Do you tell them that the butler did it in an Agatha Christie play so as not to shock them?

'Besides, in the safety of a theatre or cinema, I want to be triggered, excited, stimulated, provoked and disturbed, to be taken out of my comfort zone. Isn't that what makes theatre and films so thrilling?'

The Skyfall actress questioned just where trigger warnings should stop.

She added: 'And who knows what might trigger people? Balloons, clowns, buttons… I have a friend who doesn't like bananas. 

'She feels physically sick every time she sees one. Should supermarkets put up warning signs in the fruit and veg aisle? It drives me wild.'