Big Brother’s Reggie Bird health concerns: ‘It is really starting to scare me’

Reggie Bird is one of our most famous reality stars, having won Big Brother twice. Behind the scenes, she has struggled with various health issues.

Reggie Bird is anxiously awaiting the day she loses her eyesight completely.

The two-time Big Brother winner was declared legally blind 16 years ago when she lost 90 per cent of her central vision.

Five years earlier, after winning her first Big Brother crown in 2003, she was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare degenerative eye disease.

Now, her sight is like “looking through a straw”.

“It won’t kill me but I am going to lose the whole lot so when that day comes, I don’t know what I am going to do,” Bird said in a revealing interview on the latest episode of the Mental As Anyone podcast.

Reggie Bird with her children after winning Big Brother in 2022.

“That day is going to come and it is really starting to scare me because I feel like my eyes are really getting worse. That’s why I get out and make the most of life while I can. I’ve just got to keep going, gotta get on with it, gotta keep moving. There’s worse people off than me. That’s what I always say to myself.”

Mother of two Bird, 50, has battled various health issues for much of her life.

Big Brother winner Regina "Reggie" Bird (right) pictured with Big Brother Host Gretel Killeen in 2003.

She also suffers from stage-two Usher syndrome, a genetic condition that causes deafness and hearing loss.

Despite her struggles, she is active on social media and regular shares videos of her adventures, from dancing to cooking and life with her beloved teenage kids.

Unfortunately, that has attracted some social media bullying with ridiculous suggestions she is ‘faking’ blindness.

“I still cop s**t saying how I’m faking it,” she said.

Big Brother 2022. Regina "Reggie" Bird with fellow contestant Tim Dormer.

“It just frustrates me. I’m out there having a go and trying to do my best under the circumstances that I live with. It (vision impairment) doesn’t mean we can’t do stuff. People think we should be sitting in a bloody chair in the corner with big black glasses on and not do anything. We are quite capable of doing things. There’s a lot of education that needs to be (done) around blindness. I wish I could go to schools and educate kids … there is just such a stigma around what blind people should look like and what they should be doing.”

Reggie Bird.

Celebrity Slim..Reggie Bird Picture: Nathan Richter

In the wide-ranging interview, Bird revealed she has struggled to find work due to her disability. She lives off a pension that covers her rent, and the prize money from winning both seasons of Big Brother.

She joked that joining OnlyFans might be her only option to earn a living.

“They make lots of money on there so why not get the old saggy t**s out,” she laughed.

Do you need help? Lifeline: 131144; Beyond Blue: 1300224636; Kids Helpline: 1800551800

* A new episode of Mental As Anyone drops each Tuesday morning.

Originally published as Big Brother’s Reggie Bird health concerns: ‘It is really starting to scare me’