Harrogate sight loss charity Henshaws praises BBC after visually impaired contestant on The Wheel wins £45,000

The popular Toby Addison used humour when talking about his visual disability, helping to break down stigma.

“I am fully blind, or what we call fully blind,” Toby, a university student from Chichester, told the programme.

“There’s a spectrum so I’m 96% blind and I can see lights.

"I can tell the studio lights are on, can’t see you (host, Michael McIntyre), can’t see anyone around the wheel, so sorry if I was staring at you with weird eye contact. Not my fault.”

Praising Toby, Stephen Tongue, Director of Fundraising at Henshaws, said: “We’re delighted such a popular TV show featured Toby and that he was able to highlight his experiences.

"At Henshaws, we believe in the art of the possible and providing people with the tools they need to live life to the full in the way they want to.”

"It’s important that all game shows are as inclusive as they can be because Toby shows that disability is no block to being triumphant.

“It’s great the BBC have given him a platform.

"We look forward to seeing more people with visual impairments on game shows in the future.”

Toby won £45,000 on the show after being asked by host, former Britain’s Got Talent judge, Michael McIntyre: “Which of these artists has won the Turner Prize in the 21st Century?”

The possible answers were given as: “Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst or Amish Kapoor”.

But Toby admitted he had never seen any of the works of art, telling viewers, jokingly: “Blind people don’t like art.”

Toby was born visually impaired from a genetic condition and was partially sighted until he went fully blind aged 16.

He has a popular TikTok account, with a following of more than 240,000.

His videos regularly attract likes and views, and some have gone viral.

For more information or to donate to Henshaws, visit: www.henshaws.org.uk