British actress and model has been hiding that she wears hearing aids for over 10 years

A British actress and model has spoken about hiding that she wears hearing aids for more than a decade during a recent appearance on ITV's Good Morning Britain for Deaf Awareness Week.

Georgia Meacham said she initially wasn't comfortable disclosing this, but made the choice to share the reality of her life to help inspire others.

She shared a post which read: "Chances are, most of you reading this would have no idea I was born moderately deaf in both ears and have worn hearing aids since 17 months old.

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"For the past decade, I've kept these amazing devices hidden, yet without them, I would struggle immensely. I've coped so well with all life's challenges which I guess has made it somewhat harder to speak about."

Meacham spoke about that difficult decision on the show alongside Love Island's Tasha Ghouri, who made history as the first deaf contest on the show in 2022.

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Meacham said keeping the secret was "mentally draining" and she would wear her hair down to cover the devices.

The actress and model said Ghouri inspired her to speak out.

She was so confident and she was talking about it so positively, and growing up, I was always the only one at school with hearing aids, I was always the only one with a hearing aid at university,' she explained on Good Morning Britain.

I've never had a friend with hearing aids, or deaf. I've never been a part of that community."

Meachem and Ghouri were emotional when they met for the first time on the show.

"God, I'm getting emotional. You've done so much for me," Meachem, 32, said.

Ghouri encouraged her to "keep doing what you're doing because it's fabulous. It's so nice to see that you are now embracing you. It's beautiful and you're smashing it."

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Meachem began her career as a model at the age of 18 and has since worked for top brands including Stella McCartney, Karen Millen and Ted Baker.

She has appeared in videos for One Direction and has also starred in films including Bridget Jones's Baby and The Windsors.

Now that she has publicly disclosed her disability she said she plans to do more work to raise awareness.

In a recent Instagram post Meachem shared a video showing her hearing aids.

"If you told me a year ago, a few months ago, I would be able to confidently create a video like this I would have laughed at you!" she said in the description.

"Here's to making up for lost time and wearing them with pride baby."

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