The presenter tells Lizzie Catt how not hearing birdsong finally convinced her it was time to get her ears checked
After a lifetime of loud music and lively gigs, it was the gentle turning of the seasons that made Susannah Constantine realise she had developed problems with her hearing.
The What Not to Wear star and author began to notice a change earlier this year, although she now thinks the problem could have been going on for a year and a half.
“The penny didn’t really drop until spring,” says the 60-year-old.
“I live in the countryside, birdsong is something I’ve always loved and found very comforting. I was sitting in a big barrel of water doing my cold water immersion, listening to the birds, thinking, ‘There’s a mistle thrush and there’s a… why aren’t I hearing it?’
“It was a cacophony of noise without the clarity and differentiation. That’s when I realised. Well, that coupled with my children [ Joe, 23, Esme, 21 and Cece, 18] calling me deaf and getting really frustrated with me.” Social situations had become a struggle. “Ambient noise is awful. I wasn’t able to hear the person sitting next to me. I’d become an amateur lip reader, but if I couldn’t see someone’s face, I had no idea what they were saying. It was embarrassing.”
Susannah, who lives in Handcross in West Sussex with her husband Sten Bertelsen, admits she’d always dreaded needing help for age-related hearing loss.
“I won’t lie, I did feel ashamed in a way. There are lots of young kids who have hearing disorders, which is obviously completely different.
“For me, it’s always been one of the greatest physical signs of ageing, like wrinkles and dentures.
“There can be a huge stigma around wearing hearing aids, I felt like I might as well go to the funeral director and order my coffin, it made me feel so old.”
But instead, Susannah booked a hearing test at Boots.
“The girl who did my test, Sophy, was so lovely. You sit in a soundproof booth – like getting your passport picture done – with headphones on and listen to a beep, pressing a button when you can hear it, and there are different pitches. Sophy filled everything in on the computer and it all got worked out.”
Initially, Susannah believed the test had gone well.
“I thought, ‘I’ve nailed that – I’m not deaf ’, but of course there were pitches that I hadn’t heard.”
The test found years of wear and tear had left Susannah in need of a hearing aid.
“I’ve listened to music on headphones for decades. When I write, one of the things I do is listen to music very loudly, on full volume.”
Friends with musicians including Elton John and Scissor Sister frontman Jake Shears
(“I love him to bits”) and a big fan of live music, Susannah says: “I’ve been very lucky – I’ve even been on tour with Scissor Sisters. I think being so up close to the speakers must have had an impact.
“My children screaming at me hasn’t helped either…”
Her hearing aids arrived quickly and she describes them as “transformative”.
“There are loads of amazing brands out there, mine are by Phonak and worn over the ear – they’re so comfortable.
“The technology is like something from NASA, so rock and roll, it blew me away.
“They can adapt them remotely, you can swim in them, put your head underwater, even wash your hair as long as you’re careful not to knock them off. They’re Bluetooth and connect to my phone so I can listen to music and calls, although I will say the music isn’t