By Hannah Van De Peer
A model who appeared in Vogue is “coming out” as deaf – after 12 years of pretending not to be.
Georgia Meacham, 30, was born “moderately” deaf and started using hearing aids on both ears at 17 months old.
Despite a happy childhood, she says she spent her entire adult life “ashamed” of her disability.
After receiving a modelling contract aged 18, she didn’t want to tell anyone she was deaf – and managed to keep the facade up for over a decade.
She even starred in major Hollywood blockbusters by lipreading her cues.
Now Georgia wants to restart her career as a role model for deaf people – and says “coming out” as disabled has been one of the best things she’s ever done.
Georgia, from Camden, west London, said: “Hiding my disability has been one of the most draining things I’ve ever done – but I’m so excited to start my new life.
“People probably look at me and think ‘tall blonde model who doesn’t have any struggles’ – but I want to show people that disability doesn’t have a certain look.
“23 per cent of women in the UK are disabled, according to the Women’s Budget Group – we need more representation in the media.
“I look at celebrities like Tasha Ghouri and Rose Ayling-Ellis and I feel like I want to be as confident as them.”
Georgia’s deafness was always accepted when she was a child.
She was so confident she even wore pink, sparkly hearing aids to school every day.
Under uniform regulations, she had to wear her hair up – which she says helped her confidence.
“When I was going through school, I was very confident,” she said.
“I was never bullied for my deafness.
“I didn’t have a chance to hide it, either, because I had to wear my hair up.
“I might’ve wanted to hide them if things had been different – but I didn’t have much choice.”
Georgia started at Queen Mary University of London in September 2011 – which is when she began to feel embarrassed of her hearing aids.
She wore her hair down to fit in with her other classmates and avoided the subject altogether when meeting new people.
“I hated the thought of mentioning my deafness,” she said.
“I didn’t know how to discuss it with new people.
“I felt like I’d disassociated myself with being deaf.”
She was scouted by a modelling agency within her first year and signed her first contract at 18.
Her career took her all over the world and she modelled for brands such as Stella McCartney, Karen Millen and Ted Baker.
Artists like Tinie Tempah, Cheryl and One Direction even snapped her up to be in their videos.
But the entire time, she was lipreading cues from photographers and directors – often having to guess what they were telling her – and keeping her disability a secret.
She said: “Modelling became a fresh chapter in my life – I wanted to re-identify myself.
“I thought hiding my hearing aids would make me a more successful model.
“I’d go to castings with my hair down – because I never saw any models with hearing aids.
“On shoots, I’d quickly take my hearing aids out and chuck them in my bag – I absolutely hated them.
“And I was just in complete denial, really. I had to guess what was being said on set all the time.”
Five years into her modelling career, Georgia began auditioning for acting roles.
She has since featured in films including ‘Bridget Jones’ Baby’ and ‘Wonder Woman: 1984’ – but says she was lipreading instructions from directors the whole time.
The long days, demanding schedules and constantly guessing what people were saying to her, gave Georgia “deafness fatigue” – and she decided she couldn’t keep it up anymore.
She said: “It was incredibly mentally exhausting, lipreading the whole time.
“Deaf people already suffer from something called ‘deafness fatigue’ – because it takes more brain power for us to hear what people are saying.
“I was working myself into the ground, trying to hide this secret of mine.”
Georgia credits deaf celebs like Rose Ayling-Ellis and Tasha Ghouri for her “awakening”.
Watching them on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and ‘Love Island’ made her want to begin embracing her deafness again.
She started therapy in June 2023, and has her first British Sign Language (BSL) class booked for this month.
The model hasn’t done any public photoshoots since deciding to “come out” as deaf – but she’s looking forward to embracing her hearing aids from now on.
She said: “I feel really determined now – to use this position to speak about deaf representation in my industries.
“There needs to be that accessibility on set – I would’ve loved an extra person with me to take notes on my cues and directions.
“When you’re casting for a TV show – don’t just have one disabled person as a tick-box exercise.
“There needs to be more of a spotlight shone on hidden disabilities, too.
“I’m so proud to reintroduce myself as a model with hearing aids.
“I feel so excited to start this new chapter as someone who embraces my disability.”
