Ore Oduba, the 2016 winner of Strictly Come Dancing, was rushed to hospital over the weekend after suffering a serious eye emergency that has left him 'seeing triple'. The 40-year-old television presenter took to Instagram to share his ordeal, posting a picture of himself outside Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
Emergency Hospital Visit
Oduba described the experience in detail, telling his followers: 'Thank you MCR again for coming to my aid.. 6 hours on site, multiple scans and all my snacks devoured within 20 minutes I leave seeing triple and with two months worth of meds! But we're very gratefully on the mend.' He did not disclose the exact nature of his condition but added: 'Holding hot, purple rubber glove over my blurring, dilated, weeping eyes was a new one.'
The former Strictly champion has been given two months' worth of medication and strict orders from doctors, including wearing sunglasses for some time. This health scare comes after a difficult few months for the presenter, who has been open about his personal struggles.
Previous Struggles with Addiction
Late last year, Oduba spoke candidly about his addiction to pornography, which he said had 'dogged' him for nearly 30 years. On the We Need To Talk podcast with Paul C Brunson, he revealed: 'A year and a half ago I was able to escape an addiction that had dogged me for nearly 30 years. Nine, that is when my addiction started, when I was introduced to pornography, and I think only after everything that has happened, understanding how much of a thread that had been throughout my life, was I finally able to escape it.'
He described the addiction as 'destroying my life from the inside out' and explained that his first exposure to pornography, shown by a friend's older brother, seemed 'innocuous' at the time. 'I remember being very intrigued and a feeling of eyes being opened. Whilst I wouldn't say addiction set in immediately, the intrigue set in immediately and it didn't take long for that intrigue to start running my mind over,' he said.
Oduba, who hosted CBBC's Newsround from 2008 to 2013 before winning Strictly with Joanne Clifton in 2016, also reflected on how he hid his addiction from his family. He recalled an incident when a sibling was disciplined for smoking at school, leading to a threat from his father that any similar behaviour would result in the family being sent to Nigeria. The potential consequences were 'catastrophic', he said, adding: 'I became a master masker, I had to keep it quiet. That is the problem with this form of addiction. It's so shameful, we can't talk about it, because there is a perceived nature to it that is everything that we hate, everything that we despise.'
The presenter, who shares two children – son Roman and daughter Genie – with ex-wife Portia Culmer, expressed concern about young people today, warning: 'We are already seeing it now. Like any addiction, you have to live two lives, the one you're happy to show up in and the other you return to in order to feel anything, whether it's sadness or loneliness or depression or rejection or happiness, it becomes a friend.'
Oduba's eye emergency adds to a challenging period, but he remains grateful for the medical care he received and is focused on recovery.
