‘Hearing loss hit marriage’: Ex-BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond reveals struggle with deafness

‘Hearing loss hit our marriage’: Former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond reveals husband ‘became withdrawn’ as they both struggled to deal with deafness in older age

• Former BBC royal correspondent first noticed her hearing loss after turning 60 
• Although ’embarrassed’ about the condition, wearing a hearing aid is ‘revelation’
• Her husband, Jim, 79, also suffers from hearing loss – but in both of his ears 

She has been happily married for 36 years.

But Jennie Bond has admitted that hearing loss had an impact on her relationship after her husband became ‘quiet and withdrawn’

The former BBC Royal correspondent, who turned 68 this month, first noticed her hearing loss after turning 60. 

She revealed she felt ‘embarrassed’ about the condition, but that wearing a hearing aid has been ‘a revelation’ and helped her relationship with her husband Jim, 79, who also suffers from hearing loss in both ears. 

Ms Bond told the Mail: ‘From about 60 on you start to get those moments when you’re in a crowd and people are mouthing things at you and you can’t hear, it gets more and more difficult, so for me it’s social situations. 

Jennie Bond, the former BBC Royal correspondent, first noticed her hearing loss after turning 60

Jennie Bond, pictured above with her husband, Jim, told the Mail: ‘From about 60 on you start to get those moments when you’re in a crowd and people are mouthing things at you, and you can’t hear – it gets more difficult’

‘And there’s only so many times you can say, “Pardon? Can you say that again?” And then you start pretending you know, or you reply to what you think you’ve just heard and get it all wrong. It can all get really embarrassing’. 

Since becoming an ambassador for Hidden Hearing, Ms Bond wears one hearing aid in her right ear and her husband wears two.

‘It has transformed our lives’, she said. ‘Because he doesn’t put the television on blaringly loud that it gives me a headache. I don’t get irritable and he doesn’t get irritable…It’s been a revelation actually, we’re delighted. 

‘I think it’s something that you need to face up to be it young or old, but let’s face it, it’s generally something that happens as you get older. 

‘Your teeth start going a bit dodgy, your eyes start focussing in a different way and your hearing isn’t quite what it was. So my message is, get it fixed, it’s easy’. 

And Ms Bond said it could cause a rift between couples if one or both parties struggle to hear. 

She added: ‘It does make you irritable and it’s not good for either party because the person who can’t hear feels a bit stupid and the person who’s b****** feels mean. So for better harmony in your marriage or your relationship, just get the problem fixed’. 

Ms Bond explained that hearing loss had an impact on her relationship, after her husband, Jim, (above, right) became ‘quiet and withdrawn’

The broadcaster noticed a change in her husband after he became quieter and more withdrawn as he could not hear. 

She said: ‘Another aspect of hearing loss is that it’s quite isolating. Because you can’t hear, in a pub situation say, my husband particularly, he just wouldn’t take part in the conversation. So he’d sit there, be happy enough, but he wouldn’t take part because it was embarrassing to keep repeating. So he joins in a lot more now’. 

And Ms Bond stressed the importance of avoiding isolation after losing her mother to dementia last year. 

‘I think isolation from hearing loss is a real problem because I know from personal experience, the more isolated people become the lonelier they get and loneliness can lead to accelerated dementia, which I have great experience from my mother. So it’s really important to try and socialise and stay in the game really,’ she said. 

The TV presenter will turn 70 in two years and said she will find the milestone ‘shocking’. 

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Ms Bond said: ‘I don’t like the idea of being 70, 70 is a little bit shocking. Well it’s very shocking to the system. And my husband next year is going to be 80. 

‘It becomes progressively more shocking. Your head, your body and your age are all divorced from each other. You read about, “An elderly lady” or “A pensioner” and you think, “Oh poor old dear”, then you think “Oh Christ, she’s younger than me!”’ 

But the I’m A Celebrity runner up said she does not think she will ever go under the knife, despite having considered it in the past. 

She said: ‘I thought about it a lot. I was offered a face lift about six or seven years ago…I would love not to have the wrinkles I’ve got and the jowly bits that you get. 

‘And then the neck, the neck goes. I would love not to have those and I did think about it but my husband was violently against it, I mean, really seriously against it. 

‘So I didn’t go through with it – that was seven years ago. And now I’m trying very, very hard to get people to appreciate beauty in older age. 

Ms Bond said: ‘I don’t like the idea of being 70, 70 is a little bit shocking. Well it’s very shocking to the system. And my husband next year is going to be 80′

‘I don’t have the bloom of youth and I do have wrinkles. But, you know, there is a lot of character in my face and it’s not ugly and can’t we see a different kind of beauty in older age? 

‘So I’ve become pretty certain that I won’t have plastic surgery. I don’t mind if others do if you want to. I just think the pressure, we are going to put so much pressure on younger women, particularly on television. 

‘I want to go on television and say “Look, I’m pushing 70, this is what it looks like, get over it, you know. It’s going to happen to you as well. Is it so offensive that I have some wrinkles and can you not see the grace and the beauty in older faces?”’ 

To book a free hearing test at your nearest Hidden Hearing centre please visit www.HiddenHearing.co.uk or call 0800 037 2060.

 

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