Kara Tointon is probably best known for being one of the most talented winners of Strictly Come Dancing in recent years, or for her acting on the popular BBC soap Eastenders. What is probably less well-known is the fact that at 27 years old she has the reading age of someone aged 12.
Tointon was diagnosed with Dyslexia at age 7 and since then has dreamed of being able to devour an entire book. She has explained the terror she feels at having to learn lines for a script at the last minute and that walking into a bookshop and picking up a book can be a genuinely upsetting experience.
The actress considers herself to be fortunate for having been diagnosed so early in her primary years, but says that despite this, it still to this day affects her life on many levels.
In August 2011 Tointon appeared in the BBC Three documentary Don’t Call me Stupid, a frank and intimate account of how the learning disability has affected her. Tointon undergoes an assessment in the program as well as speaking with young people in a similar position to herself.
The result is a film which is polished, informative and honest, and as such it was incredibly well-received. It would seem that Kara’s ultimate message rung true for a lot of people: “’I want to know where my personality begins and dyslexia ends.”