Sir Elton John is feeling “very isolated” amid his health woes, his friend Janet Street-Porter has revealed.
Elton was accompanied by his husband David Furnish as he revealed a personal health struggle to the audience at London’s West End after a showing of The Devil Wears Prada, saying: “I’ve lost my eyesight and cannot see the stage.”
The legendary musician explained that an eye infection resulted in the loss of sight in his right eye, with his left eye also being compromised, leaving him feeling somewhat “stuck” in his current situation.
On Loose Women, Janet Street-Porter shared her insight into Elton’s health woes. During her appearance on the show, Janet commented: “It’s very tough. He’s been on the phone about it, he’s called me. I think it really affected him because he suffers from glaucoma and he had one eye that was OK and another eye which is a weak eye.”
She added: “He would not have wanted to share that because he wouldn’t want people to pity him. He doesn’t want our sympathy, it’s a battle he’s got to fight himself. Nothing we can do for him but send him our love and support. When he started telling me about it, I could see how distressed he was and it really got to me.”
Elton explained that he has lost his eyesight and how it has affected his work.
Speaking about his health battles, he explained: “I’ve lost my eyesight and cannot see the stage. As some of you may know I have had issues and now I have lost my sight. I haven’t been able to see the performance but I have enjoyed it.
“To my husband who’s been my rock because I haven’t been able to come to many of the previews… it’s hard for me to see it but I love to hear it and it sounded good tonight OK.”
He added: “The reason partly is because I’ve got glaucoma in my right eye and very very poor sight in my right eye. I could see what had happened to him and the way he sought all these different remedies and nothing has worked so far, but he’s still optimistic. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything, and well, I just have to get off my backside.
“I unfortunately lost my eyesight in my right eye in July because I had an infection in the south of France and it’s been four months now since I haven’t been able to see, and my left eye is not the greatest. So there’s hope and encouragement that it will be OK.”
*Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.