Tom Ball has opened up about his struggles living with Type One diabetes.
The 26-year-old singer – who shot to fame after stunning audiences with his singing on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and ‘America’s Got Talent: All Stars’ – was diagnosed with the the autoimmune disease when when he was eight.
Now, he is determined to use his platform as a musician to offer messages of hope for those also suffering with diabetes and help spread understanding and awareness of the condition.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, he said: ” I never spoke about my diabetes until really ‘BGT’ when I realised I had a platform and I could try and use it for good a little bit.
“Obviously I’m Type One diabetic, so it’s incurable, there is no cure for it and they don’t know how you get it either.
“It’s not lifestyle related, it’s an autoimmune condition you get.
“It affects every single moment in my life.
“I have to be conscious about when I inject – so I have to wear two needles on my body 24 hours a day, I sleep with those needles in – I have got tubing coming out of my stomach constantly. I have to inject myself and be conscious of my blood glucose readings constantly.
“And it’s not just food that affects your blood glucose readings – the temperature outside, stress levels, anxiety, emotions, exercise – everything has an effect on your blood glucose readings.”
Tom – who has just released his debut LP ‘Curtain Call’ – admits his condition influences every decision he makes in his life, because there can be such serious consequences for him if he doesn’t look after his health.
He explained: “Everything I do in life – there is a thought behind it of, ‘How is this going to affect my health?’, and if I don’t look after me, it’s very severe, it’s ultimately death.
“If I just don’t look after myself, I end up in hospital, and [if] they don’t do anything, then I end up no longer with us.
“So, there’s an immense pressure behind every Type One diabetic to be as good as we can, and then it’s frustrating when we’re not, because there are so many things to consider that you can’t just calculate.
“It affects everything I do, and that’s probably why a couple of the songs on my album have references to my Type One diabetes as well because it’s such a big part of my life.”
The singer recognised his parents were put under “immense pressure” in looking after him, and added he understood their struggles after his manager’s son was diagnosed with the disease.
He said: “When I was first diagnosed, my mum and dad did everything – I was too young to really be in control – so they looked after me and it was immense pressure on them.
“My manager Jay, his son was diagnosed about two months after meeting me, which is a mad, mad coincidence, but his song was three.
“And I know now quite how much my parents worried and put effort into looking after me, because now I look after myself, but I also see Jay and how much him and his wife Victoria do for their son Franklin. So I know it’s had a massive effect on them.”
As he tours around the world, Tom admitted his family “worry” about his health, adding his wife Hannah Burtenshaw demands he sends her his blood glucose readings, otherwise she “starts to panic”.
He said: “Now I’m looking after myself and travelling around the world, my wife wants to know what my readings are, so I share them with her. If she doesn’t see those readings, she starts to panic.”
Tom’s album ‘Curtain Call’ is out now.