Claudia Winkleman's chronic eye condition left her 'never really' able to see her own face

Claudia Winkleman's chronic eye condition left her 'never really' able to see her own face
Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman was named among the King's Birthday Honours list released yesterday
Claudia has said she has 'never really been able to see' her own face in the mirror
(Image: 2025 Getty Images )
Television star Claudia Winkleman has candidly discussed her long-term battle with a severe eye condition that has left her barely able to see her own reflection. The 53-year-old star, who was on Friday honoured with an MBE by King Charles, has undergone multiple surgeries in an attempt to improve her vision.
The Traitors presenter has previously talked about her significant myopia, or short-sightedness, saying, "how blind I am". During a conversation on the How To Fail podcast last November, she shared: "I've always had terrible eyesight, which goes back to the blurriness of the paintings I like and the blurriness of how I really like life to be.
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"I've had a couple of operations since then because I was just banging into walls. But now I wear lenses or glasses or whatever."
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She added: "A lit candle and everything is just a bit fuzzy around the outside. I was born, I think, with minus 15, so I've never really been able to see my face. It's all guesswork.
"But everything is ish, it's just a vague idea, which is how I'd like to live. I don't want to live in 'perfect land'. I want to live in 'fuzzy world'.
Claudia was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King's Birthday Honours alongside her Strictly Come Dancing co-host, Tess Daly
(Image: 2024 Getty Images )
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"If there's perfect here - people who want things to look good and ordered and alphabetised and organised - and then there's the other end, I'm past the other end. I like irregular and ramshackle and messy. Just look at the way I do my eye make-up. I'm not very good at neat."
The Sun previously reported that Claudia confessed to having difficulties with reading an autocue due to her vision issues, which have shifted from short-sightedness to long-sightedness over time. In 2021, she disclosed: "I can't even begin to tell you how blind I am. It's embarrassing! I can't read the autocue. My eyes have deteriorated so badly, I'm not meant to drive. I am doing the wrong job."
During a conversation on Gabby Logan's podcast The Mid Point in December, Claudia shared details about her eye surgeries. She said: "I've had lens replacement.
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"I've had so many operations on my eyes. I had a lens replacement in my left eye because my astigmatism was so bad. I was minus 16, but that was 14 years ago."
She continued: "Then I had a little fiddle with it, but because I was so short-sighted, by fixing it I'm now long-sighted, so I can't really read anymore. I can with glasses-I've got plus 2.5-but I can't read The Bee Sting with those glasses and that light."
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On June 13, Claudia was honoured with a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King's Birthday Honours list, an accolade she shares with her Strictly co-host Tess Daly.
Upon receiving the honour, Claudia expressed her gratitude. She said: "I am incredibly grateful to receive this honour," and added, "It's a real privilege to work with extraordinarily talented people and I have only got this because of them.
"So this is for the BBC, the traitors and the faithful, for pianos and for the cha cha. I will buy a hat and am taking my mum. I am ridiculously lucky and will celebrate with Tess by doing a paso doble."

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