Love Island: Disabled Essex contestant hopes to raise awareness

Ron Hall, 25, from Essex, is Love Island's first partially-sighted contestant

The first partially-sighted contestant on Love Island said it would be "100% great" if he could raise awareness of his condition while in the villa.

Ron Hall, 25, from Essex, lost his sight in one eye while playing football as a child.

The financial adviser is one of 10 contestants who will try to find love in the South African winter series of the ITV2 reality show.

He said if he could "make an impact" on people who might be insecure about their vision it would be "fantastic".

Mr Hall said he felt that losing half of his sight at the age of eight shaped him as a person "in a really good way"

Ahead of entering the villa, Mr Hall said he feels that losing half of his sight at the age of eight has shaped him as a person "in a really good way" and is also a "great conversation starter" when talking to women.

"I just think of myself as normal, although yeah, I am disabled and I don't mind the label," he said.

"If I can bring awareness and be vocal about it, then fantastic.

"If there's... another lad or girl who's partially sighted or feels a bit insecure about something to do with their vision... and I can make an impact on them to say, 'you know what, this guy is confident and he's gone on this show and he's still talking to girls with no problem even though he's got something wrong with him' then yeah, that's fantastic if I can do that.

"Absolutely, if I can do that for people 100% it would be great."

'Conversation starter'

Mr Hall admitted that life after his accident was challenging due to the pain and the mean comments and stares he would get from other children, but he has learned to adapt and turn it into a positive.

"I try and use it to my advantage, it's a great conversation starter, I've got two different coloured eyes," he said.

"One might look a bit funny and a bit cloudy but that's part and parcel of what life throws at you.

"When dealing with comments and things like that, I've got thick skin, I've learned to deal with that."

He added that he feels his ability to deal with confrontation will serve him well in the villa and said he would "one million per cent" call out poor or disrespectful behaviour.

Last summer, Love Island had its first deaf contestant, Tasha Ghouri, from Yorkshire, who finished fourth in the final with Andrew Le Page from Guernsey.

The upcoming series is the show's first winter version since the beginning of the pandemic and starts on 16 January.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [e-mail]