Who is Love Island star Ron? Meet ITV2 show’s first ever partially sighted contestant

New contestant has described the incident that caused him to lose sight in one eye

Love Island fever is here once again, thanks to a new winter series hosted by Maya Jama.

The contestants in the South African villa this year include a former body double for Emma Watson and an extra from the sitcom Benidorm.

Joining them is 25-year-old financial advisor Ron Hall.

Ron is the show’s first ever partially sighted contestant.

Find out more about the Love Island contestant below.

Why has Ron joined Love Island and what has he said he’ll bring to the villa?

Ron, who is from Essex, said that he wanted to bring “fun and charisma” to the series, adding that he hoped to “have good times and make memories”.

He described himself as “genuine, caring and a nice person”, which he said “you don’t find these days”.

Ron also revealed that he is partially sighted, telling ITV: “It’s added to my character. It’s not hindered me in any shape or form. It’s a good conversation starter I must admit.”

How did Ron lose sight in one eye?

Speaking to multiple publications, including Metro.co.uk, ahead of entering the villa, Ron revealed that his retina detached while playing football as a youngster.

“When I was about eight, I was playing football. I was in a match and the ball basically came over, I went down to head the ball, and he went up with his foot and basically knocked me out, detached my retina,” he said.

“I went to hospital the next day, they said it was a detached retina and it should be fine. I had a load of operations, I don’t know what happened with it all but it became very severe and the operations weren’t working, we didn’t pick it up quick enough.”

Ron continued: “I can even remember how many operations I had between a year and two years, probably 10, 12 plus. I’ve got a silicone wheel in the back of it, I’ve got a buckle in the back as well. By operation six or seven, they were like, ‘Look, you’re not going to get your sight back,’ so for me it was about making it look as normal as possible.”

Does Ron feel pain from his eye injury?

Describing the sensation he experienced immediately after the injury occurred, Ron said it felt like “someone was poking you in the eye all the time” until the age of 18, when one day “the pain just stopped”.

Reflecting on the optimistic outlook he had regarding his injury, Ron said: “You just have to look at the positive side of things. Yes, when you’re younger, I used to get called pirate and Popeye, but my Xbox name when I was a kid used to be Ron One Eye and we’d make jokes about it all the time.

“So, for me, the fact that I was making jokes and me and my friends were always making jokes, you become very comfortable with anyone who says anything and I’ve never really been impacted by bullying.”

What is Ron’s Instagram?

You can find Ron on Instagram at @ronhall__, but this year all the contestants’ pages are disabled while they’re in the villa.

In an unprecedented move, ITV has asked them to make their accounts “dormant” while they are on the show so that nothing can be published on their behalf, in efforts to prevent the “adverse effects of social media”.