Keeping on top of eye health

How many pairs of spectacles and sunglasses do you own?

Thanks to Specsavers, I’ve got five pairs of glasses and one functioning pair of prescription sunglasses. I do go through them with my crash helmet.

Can you describe your favourite pair?

My favourite pair are my Will.i.am ones from his new Specsavers range. I love them and I’ve worn them all summer. They’re matte black and just a really nice pair.

What frame shapes, colours or styles do you usually go for?

To be perfectly honest, I’m the world’s worst for picking glasses for myself. I rely on the store teams to help me. Specsavers has its Frame Styler, which picks a selection of different frames based on the size and shape of your face. I really like the frames that it selected for me.

I’ve got five pairs of glasses and one functioning pair of prescription sunglasses. I do go through them with my crash helmet

Who would you pick as your style icon for glasses wearers and why?

Eric Morecambe because his glasses were part of his personality. You could never imagine him without them could you? He even used to use them as a prop. His glasses were part of him.

What prompted you to go for your first sight test and what was the result?

I was eight years old and doing the six times table at school – I got to six sixes and I couldn’t see the blackboard. My teacher had to move me to a desk closer to the blackboard and told me to go and get my eyes tested. I did and they told me I was short-sighted. I remember in those days it took six weeks for my glasses to arrive. They were so fragile that they only lasted me about two weeks.

Do you wear contact lenses?

I used to wear contact lenses for 20 years. But when I worked as part of film crew with smoke machines and dust, I found that wearing glasses was better for me.

How important is your vision when carrying out your passion for cooking, travelling and producing a TV series?

Very important. Without your eyes you’re nothing, it’s the most important sense. To carry on doing the things I love, I know that I need to keep on top of my eye health. 

Without your eyes you’re nothing, it’s the most important sense

How has your view of eye health changed since finding out that you have glaucoma?

To be honest, it hasn’t changed that much apart from needing to use my eye drops regularly and I always have my eyes tested once a year. As you get older, it’s another thing you need to take more care of.

Why is it important for ‘the ageing population’ to have regular sight tests?

Because your eyes like everything else wear out. When I step off my motorbike, I notice my knees aren’t as springy as they once were. There are so many things that can go wrong with your eyes and an awful lot of it is avoidable. A bit like glaucoma, I can see and for seven years there’s been no deterioration because I use my eye drops – they’re next to my toothbrush so I remember to use them each night. Without doing these, my sight could have got worse and made my ‘proper’ old age pretty miserable.