First partially sighted Islander Ron Hall reveals the cruel nickname from bullies that became his X-box username
LOVE Island’s first partially-sighted contestant Ron Hall reckons his struggles have made him into the ultimate catch.
The financial advisor, 25, is blind in one eye as the result of a football accident when he was just eight years old – but says it just meant he had to up his game.
Chatting before entering the villa, Ron told The Sun: “My past has one hundred percent, one million percent shaped me.
“I try and use it to my advantage, you know, it’s a great conversation starter, I’ve got two different colour eyes.
“I’m gonna blow my own trumpet here but my charm… I’m quite charismatic. I like to think I’m not boring.
“I mean don’t get me wrong, I’d like to think I’m not a bad looking fella. But I think it helps me with talking to girls and having a conversation and being confident about it.
“It has shaped me into the person I am in a really good way.”
Ron lost the sight in his right eye when he was kicked in the head going in for a header.
He was forced to miss a whole year of school and even had to eat and drink lying face down on a specially-constructed hospital bed with a hole for his face.
But worse was to come when he was finally able to get back to the playground. Ron, from Essex, went on: “It was tough.
“You know, the pain that I went through in terms of like the actual pain of the eye. And you deal with comments but you have to learn to deal with that.
‘Ron One Eye’
“I remember when I came back to the school for the first time I had to wear a patch and there’d be some people trying to be clever, trying to be funny.
“They’d call you or pirate, popeye, the blind… whatever. Like my nickname when I was a kid was Ron One Eye.
“But I didn’t even let it impact me, like my Xbox name was Ron One Eye. You know, I used to embrace it.
“Because if you tell yourself those sorts of things, when people say it to you it’s not gonna hurt you.”
As he’s grown up, Ron’s even made his disability part of his patter with the ladies.
He laughed: “I make eye jokes all the time! I always say, like if a girl walks in, I’ll say to the boys, ‘eye eye’. There’s loads of different play on words that you can use and for me using that as a joke and being comfortable with it, it didn’t really impact me too much.
“For me, the most important thing is there are so many people out there that are in a worse position than me. I think people forget that.
“You know, this one doesn’t really affect me too much on a day-to-day basis. I think you have to learn to adapt to your situation.
“All right, one eye might look a bit funny and a bit clouded, but, you know, that’s part and parcel of what life throws at you.”
They’d call you or pirate, popeye, the blind… whatever. Like my nickname when I was a kid was Ron One Eye.
For now, life has taken cheeky Ron to South Africa, where he spoke from quarantine just days away from meeting new host Maya Jama at the brand new Winter Love Island villa in Cape Town, South Africa.
It’s a turn of events for which he has his mates to thank after they sent in an application on his behalf as a joke.
Ron said: “So funny story, last year two of my friends as a joke tried to fill up an application for me. I got an email through and I was like, ‘no boys, this isn’t happening!’
“And then this year I got a call to basically come back again. So I answered the call and went with it. I thought why not, it’s about time.
“When I actually started thinking about it, it kind of was a perfect thing for me to do to give me that little push. I’m 25 now. I’ve been single for the past five years and I’ve enjoyed the single life.
“Working in the City – I just wanted my career, I wanted to make money and just graft. I never went to uni, I never travelled and for me Love Island is an experience as well as trying to settle down.
“I had it in my mind as a kid that I’d have everything sorted by like 27, so I think it’s about time I actually try and find a missus, settle down, get my life together.”
He added: “Everyone has a stigma about the Essex lad – ‘oh they’re players’ – but I am actually genuine. I’m actually a nice lad and my parents have taught me right.
“You know, if there’s someone sitting at home, there’s another lad or girl who’s partially sighted or feels a bit insecure about something, and they think ‘you know what, this guy has confidence and he’s gone on this show and he’s still talking to girls with no problem, even though he’s got something wrong with him’ then that’s fantastic.
“For me, I see my situation as normal, I’ve had it for 17 years, so I’ve never really thought about it too much.”