Elton John unable to 'watch own musical' after eyesight loss

(L to R) Vanessa Williams, Donatella Versace, Sir Elton John and Dame Anna Wintour stood in front of white bannerImage source, Dave Benett/Getty Images
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(L to R) Vanessa Williams, Donatella Versace, Sir Elton John and Dame Anna Wintour attend The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical's charity gala night

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Sir Elton John said he has been unable to watch the musical he wrote the lyrics for due to losing his eyesight.

Speaking at the gala performance of The Devil Wears Prada: The Musical he said: "I have lost my sight and I haven't been able to see the performance but I have enjoyed listening to it."

The West End show hosted a charity gala for the Elton John AIDS Foundation on Sunday evening.

The star-studded event attracted a host of famous faces including Anna Wintour, Lily Collins and Donatella Versace.

Speaking to the BBC on the red carpet, Vogue's editor-in-chief said she was looking forward to supporting Elton and described the musical as "entertaining".

Asked whether the film and musical is at all representative of what the fashion industry is actually like, she said it was "for audiences to decide".

"It's for the audience and for the people I work with to decide if there are any similarities between me and Miranda Priestly," she added.

It has often been rumoured that the character of Priestly was based loosely on Wintour.

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Media executive Dame Anna Wintour

The Devil Wears Prada tells the story of an aspirational young journalist, Andy, who become the assistant to one of New York's most infamous fashion magazine editors, Miranda Priestly.

American fashion designer Betsey Johnson said "everyone in the fashion industry loves the show".

The 82-year-old said she was "lucky" she get through the industry without having to "play the game".

"When I saw the film for the first time, I thought thank god I missed all that stuff because I would not want to have gone through all that."

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TV personality Michelle Visage

The production sees American singer and actress Vanessa Williams step into the iconic role of feared fashion magazine editor Miranda.

TV personality Michelle Visage said Williams, best known for her roles in Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, has "absolutely" always been the perfect person to play Priestly.

Visage also spoke to the BBC about the progress the fashion industry is making.

"I can't believe in the film that Andy was called fat when she was a size six," she said.

"I would hope things have changed - we have seen some more inclusion and I hope we always hope to progress."

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Actress and model Liz Hurley with son Damian Hurley

Model Elizabeth Hurley said she thought "every woman's body is now celebrated" and was keen to see "how that is shown in this theatre show".

However, singer Beverley Knight said she doesn't think "the fashion industry has moved on leaps and bounds" in terms of how it views women of different sizes.

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Actor Luke Evans

Beauty and the Beast actor Luke Evans said he loves the film because it's "full of characters and ego" but he has "no idea" why it's such a cultural phenomenon.

"It's probably because fashion changes all the time but the people at the top never do and this is sort of an insider, behind the scenes version," he said.

He added he doesn't think there are many similarities between Priestly and Wintour as he's met "Anna many times and she's very lovely so I don't think they're similar".

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Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace

Comedian David Walliams was also in attendance with his mother and they both said they "know it's going to be brilliant and we haven't even seen it".

"We're missing Strictly Come Dancing for this, that's how much we love Elton," the pair joked.

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Neil Sinclair (left) and Christopher Biggins (right) on the red carpet

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Dame Arlene Phillips

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Actress Lily Collins (right) with director and screenwriter husband Charlie McDowell (left)

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TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney

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BBC Radio 1 presenter Clara Amfo

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Drag Race UK runner up La Voix

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Actress and singer Claire Sweeney strikes a pose outside the Dominion Theatre

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Comedian and presenter Amelia Dimoldenberg

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Former ballerina Dame Darcey Bussell

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Five-time BAFTA TV award winner Graham Norton

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Broadcast journalist Claire Balding