Loose Women star Kaye Adams struggled with her health for three years, admitting it impacted her career and left her feeling vulnerable.
The 60-year-old presenter spoke on the Boots Taboo Talk podcast, opening up about her hearing loss and sharing that it made her feel like she "wasn't functioning" and led her to question if she could carry on with her career.
WATCH: Kaye Adams invites fans to her hearing aid fitting
Kaye also detailed the reasons she left it three years before addressing the issue, explaining it was vanity that held her back.
Speaking of when her hearing first became an issue, Kaye explained: "My kids were very impatient with me, I'd ask them to repeat things and they'd get very irritated.
Kaye Adams' hearing caused her issues on Loose Women
"It started to get to me, I felt like a bit of a joke, I wasn't hearing properly but I wasn't getting it looked at and it was because of vanity because there's a negative connotation with age."
Comparing the loss of hearing to sight loss as we age, Kaye lamented: "I wear one contact lens and I don't worry about that, it's no big deal but there's a negative connotation to getting a hearing aid in later life. It feels like you're going downhill and it's ludicrous."
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On how her hearing affected her daily life, including her career, Kaye said: "I just wasn't functioning. One day I was hosting a conference and I there was a Q&A and the audience member had a mic, but I couldn't hear him. I felt really vulnerable, I wondered 'Am I going to be able to do this anymore?'
Kaye Adams admitted vanity held her back from getting her health issue seen to
"I was missing things on Loose Women, one time Andrea McLean told a story, and then I told it immediately afterwards because I hadn't heard what she said," Kaye admitted.
After suffering for three years, Kaye eventually went to Boots and had a hearing test, which resulted in her getting state-of-the-art hearing aids that have helped her hear perfectly again.
Listen to our editor-in-chief as she talks about mental health and well-being with Carol Vorderman on In a Good Place
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