Recent disability representation on TV

TV has often been criticised for its lack of representation, and inaccurate portrayals, of disabled people. In this blog, we highlight shows that have gotten it right.

The blog focuses mostly on the on-screen representation of visually impaired people, but it also highlights disabled people with other impairments and conditions too.

TV is one of the most consumed forms of media in the UK. In 2021, people spent an average of three hours per day in front of their TVs.

V programmes represent a wide range of people from a wide range of backgrounds and with a wide range of characteristics.
However, it has regularly been criticised for its lack of representation of disabled people, through not including disabled people in casts, or pitying and othering them when they are included.

It is thought that 18% of the UK’s population identify as disabled, but it is estimated that disability representation on-screen is as low as 6.8%.

In recent years, there have been notable examples of positive representation of disabled people on TV, and in this blog, we are highlighting those, focusing on examples in reality TV and talent shows.

1. Love Island

In early 2023, Ron Hall participated in the winter series of Love Island (Love Island Series 9).

Ron is blind in one eye, as a result of a football injury he sustained when he was eight years old. Despite numerous operations, he was told that his sight in that eye would never be restored.

Ron is the first partially sighted islander, and this follows Tasha Ghouri, who was on Love Island in summer 2022 as the first deaf islander.

Ron’s appearance on Love Island has been praised, with visually impaired actor Georgie Morrell, who is also blind in one eye, writing an article about its importance, and how Love Island is paving the way for more positive disability representation on-screen, with a focus on integration, meaning that their disability is not the main or only focus.

n Love Island Series 10 (that launched on 5th June 2023), prior to them entering, a self-description video of each islander is made available, in which they outline their physical characteristics including height, hair and eye colour, fashion style, race, and additional features such as tattoos and piercings.

There is also an audio described villa tour, with audio description by Love Island’s narrator Iain Stirling, for blind viewers to get to know the key locations within the series.

All the audio described content can be found on Love Island’s YouTube channel.

Read this article about Ron Hall on Love Island

2. Dancing On Ice

In 2020, blind Paralympian Libby Clegg participated in Dancing On Ice, reaching the final and finishing in 3rd place.

She was partnered with professional Mark Hanretty, who adapted his teaching technique to accommodate Libby’s needs, including by using sound cues including numbers which helped her during her performances.

One of her highlights was performing a 45-second solo skate completely unaided. Libby also used her experience to educate people about her eye condition, Stargardt’s Mascular Dystrophy, and how that affects her sight.

3. Celebrity MasterChef

Also in 2020, TV personality and business owner Amar Latif was the first blind person to take part in Celebrity MasterChef.
Amar has Retinitis Pigmentosa, an eye condition that caused him to lose 95% of his vision by the age of 18. He reached the semi-final, and a few months later participated in a one-off festive edition of the programme.

Prior to Celebrity MasterChef, Amar admitted that he couldn’t cook, so spent three weeks learning to cook prior to filming.

Amar’s dishes were inspired by the Asian flavours of his mum’s cooking, and he used his other senses like taste and texture to check if his food was cooked.

4. The Voice

Back in 2013, The Voice, the singing competition in which auditions are judged solely on the person’s voice, featured a blind contestant, who went on to win the show.

Andrea Begley, who also worked as a civil servant, auditioned and was then mentored by coach Danny O’Donoghue.

She chose to audition for The Voice because she liked the idea that she couldn’t see the coaches, and the coaches couldn’t initially see her so the only thing they could judge her on was her voice.

5. Strictly Come Dancing

While Strictly Come Dancing has not yet featured a visually impaired contestant, it has featured other disabled people.

In 2021, Rose Ayling-Ellis, who is a deaf actress, was crowned the first disabled Strictly Come Dancing champion.

Other disabled people to participate include Ellie Simmonds who has Dwarfism, and Jonnie Peacock who is an amputee.

In 2022, Amar Latif appeared on the spin-off discussion show It Takes Two, and talked about the availability of audio description on Strictly Come Dancing. Audio description is made available on BBC iPlayer a few days after the episode airs.

The availability of audio description on Strictly was then a topic of discussion on the BBC’s Access All podcast; this included an interview with the audio describer.

Hopefully in the not too distant future, Strictly will feature a visually impaired participant.

Listen to the Access All podcast about audio description on Strictly

6. The Piano

The Piano, that aired on Channel 4 in early 2023, featured amateur pianists performing at four train stations across the UK, and were, unbeknownst to them, being watched and listened to by popstar Mika and pianist Lang Lang. As selected by Mika and Lang Lang, the best performer at each train station then went on to perform in a concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

One of the performers, who went on to win the show, was 13-year-old Lucy, who is totally blind, and is also autistic and has a developmental delay as a result of a genetic condition. Lucy has been learning to play the piano from a very young age, after playing the keyboard from the age of two.

As well as highlighting Lucy’s piano playing skills, it also highlighted how she learns to play the piano; she is taught by Daniel, a music teacher provided by The Amber Trust, a charity that helps blind and partially sighted children and young people access music-based opportunities.

Lucy performed her audition at Leeds Train Station. For both her performance in Leeds and her performance at the Royal Festival Hall, she played traditional classical pieces.

After winning The Piano, Lucy performed at King Charles III’s Coronation Concert that took place on 7th May 2023.

7. Race Across The World

In Race Across The World, five pairs of individuals travel from one location to another, and the fastest pair to complete the journey wins a £20,000 prize. Pairs are not allowed to use air travel, so must travel by land and sea.

Each team is given a budget per person, the budget being the price of a one-way airfare from the start  to the final destination.

Teams are given a jobs directory so that they can look for short-term work and earn money along the way, if they are running low on funds.

The most recent series (Series 3) involved travelling across Canada, from Stanley Park in Vancouver, to St. John’s in Newfoundland.

One of the participants in this series was Tricia (Trish), who completed the race with her best friend Cathie.

Trish has 10% vision in both eyes, caused by Uveitis.

While participants are prohibited from using smartphones during the race, Trish was allowed to use a digital camera, to take pictures so that she could zoom in on them to read any information.

Trish and Cathie won the series, winning the £20,000 prize fund.

Final Thoughts

These examples highlight how disabled people can be represented positively on TV, and how disabled people can be included and given opportunities to fully participate.

It’s clear that progress is being made to cast disabled people on TV shows in a way that feels positive and authentic, and as a result, this results in better and more accurate education and awareness.

Hopefully, more and more shows will cast disabled people, and the time will come when disabled people appearing on TV is just the norm, and we won’t have to mark milestones such as ‘the first blind contestant’ and their disability will be seen as one aspect of who they are, and not their primary defining characteristic.