Dallas television star Charlene Tilton explains why getting a hearing aid at 53 has completely transformed her life.

When celebrities sign up for a reality show and wax poetic about their incredible “journey,” it is often just a quick dash from one television project to the next. But it was a life-changing experience for pocket dynamo Charlene Tilton when she joined Dancing On Ice.

Charlene, best known for her role as brattish Lucy Ewing in the hit 1980s soap opera Dallas, charmed audiences and won a new army of fans with her aggressive ice performances.

“Two years ago, if you’d asked me, I would have said, ‘Absolutely no way, not for all the tea in China,'” she admits. “I’ve never done anything athletic in my entire life.”

Everything changed when she witnessed her fiancé Cheddy Hart, 54, died suddenly of heart failure.

“It occurred on December 23, 2010,” she explains. “We were talking about what I was making for Christmas dinner, and then suddenly he said, ‘I feel funny. I apologize. “I’m going to sabotage Christmas.”

He collapsed moments later and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors were powerless to help him after he suffered a massive heart attack and died on the road.

“It was devastating and took its toll on me physically and emotionally. It was as if I had collided with a brick wall at 100 mph.”

When the shock wore off, she made a vow that from that day forward, she would live every moment as if it were her last.

“It was a wake-up call,” she admits. “We are not guaranteed our next breath or heartbeat, so I want to grab every opportunity that comes my way.

“Two years ago, I would have been content to sit on the couch and do something unhealthy, like smoking or drinking, but it completely changed my outlook.”

But, as soon as Charlene stepped onto the ice for preliminary training in Los Angeles with partner Matt Gonzalez, she realized she had taken on a bigger challenge than she had anticipated.

It was impossible for her to conceal her hearing loss, which she had kept hidden throughout her acting career.

“As a child, I had chronic ear infections,” she explains. “I used to be a sickly kid.” However, Charlene’s mother could not always afford to take her to the doctor. “She was a single mother, and it was difficult for her. She simply did not have the funds.”

Charlene had just turned eight when she became ill with a nasty infection. “I recall the pain like it was yesterday. It was agonizing. When I lifted my head off the pillow the next morning, it was covered in blood.”

Her mother rushed her to a children’s hospital, the only option for Americans without money or health insurance. “My eardrums were perforated, leaving me with hearing loss,” she explained. I knew I was deaf, but it was just something I had to live with.

“When I worked on Dallas, I had to go to black-tie events for work, and I would just smile and say ‘Yes’ to whatever anyone was saying.

“God only knows what I was saying Yes to,” laughs Charlene, who will reprise her role as Lucy in a remake of the cult show that will air later this year on Channel 5.

“It was always frustrating that I couldn’t hear people’s names, especially important names like network executives.”

It was only after a disastrous day of filming when she kept missing her cue for a scene with Larry Hagman, who played JR, and Patrick Duffy, who played Bobby, that she was forced to admit to the director and her co-stars that she could not hear the line that was supposed to signal her entrance.

“Ronald Reagan had just gotten a hearing aid at the time, and I knew I had to do something.”

The devices were far less sophisticated back then, only amplifying sounds rather than making them clearer.

Eventually, she gave up with the cumbersome earpiece and returned to nodding, smiling, and saying “Yes” and “Pardon”.

Surprisingly, silence is golden when it comes to skating. Karen Barber, a Dancing On Ice trainer, explained to viewers that it is a sign that you are well-balanced and gliding across the ice.

On the other hand, Charlene was having difficulty hearing her partner’s instructions and music, let alone picking up on the subtleties of her skating sounds.

“I had to come up with a hand signal system with Matt,” she explains.

“It was difficult and potentially dangerous once we began doing lifts and spins.”

So, when Charlene came to London for the show, she decided to try a hearing aid again and was astounded at how far technology had progressed.

She has gone from hiding her disability to being happy to share her experience in the hope that it will encourage others to realize that hearing loss doesn’t have to hold you back. Today she launched the Sound Barrier Star Awards sponsored by Specsavers, who is best known for making glasses but also provide state-of-the-art hearing aids.

The awards recognize people who prove hearing loss is a hurdle to overcome.

“It is wonderful,” says Charlene. “I hadn’t realized how much I was missing.”

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