For Tinnitus Week (5-11 February) Jamie has joined forces with RNID, the charity supporting people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus, to share his story and help RNID raise funds for research to silence tinnitus for good.

Jamie talks about the moment he first experienced the condition, describing it as a sudden and overwhelming sensation. Eight years on, he details the impact of tinnitus on his daily life, highlighting its disruptive nature and the difficulty of finding relief from the persistent ringing in his ears.

Tinnitus is the name for hearing noises that are not caused by an outside source. It’s common – around 1 in 7 adults have tinnitus all the time or regularly. The condition sounds different for different people. Many people describe their tinnitus as a ringing sound, but tinnitus can also be heard as other sounds, such as buzzing, whooshing, clicking, humming, and hissing, to name a few, or even be a combination of sounds.

“I haven’t heard silence for 8 years,” said Jamie Laing. “The very first time I ever heard tinnitus, I woke up one morning and I got out of bed, and I could hear this ringing noise. And I was looking around, thinking where the hell is this noise coming from? Then it suddenly dawned on me that it was inside my own head. For anyone who’s ever experienced tinnitus that is a really scary moment.

“I would spend a lot of time in nightclubs, but I never wore anything to protect my ears. I should have done and everyone should be protecting their ears. My tinnitus sounds like a dog whistle, with a whooshing noise surrounding it as well.

“So it takes me a lot to cry and I was shooting a television show called Hunted, and in it my tinnitus was so bad. People were asking me questions and I couldn’t hear what they were saying because the ringing was so overbearing. It was so loud, and I was like, this is the moment. This is the moment where tinnitus is going to take over.

“The amazing thing is RNID is doing some incredible work, and through this amazing campaign they are raising money which will go directly towards tinnitus research to silence tinnitus for good.”

Franki Oliver, Audiology Manager at RNID, said: “Tinnitus is in fact much more common than many people realise. Around 1 in 7 adults have tinnitus; that’s over 7 million adults in the UK! There is support out there with a range of professional tinnitus management options as well as self-management techniques available that can be helpful.

“Thank you to Jamie Laing for sharing his story and raising awareness of tinnitus and how RNID can support people living with the condition.”

Download your free tinnitus guide at rnid.org.uk/tinnitus