Hearing loss in the media in 2026

Hearing loss representation on TV

2026 has seen somewhat of a shift in how deafness, hearing loss, and the wearing of hearing aids are represented on mainstream TV. With the help of my podcast co-host, actor, model and deaf advocate, Georgia Meacham, this article will review what two programmes, Peppa Pig and Love Island, have got right in terms of hearing loss representation, as well as what they’ve got wrong. Plus, I explain why TV representation and accessibility matter so much.

Peppa Pig & George’s hearing aid story

George Pig’s hearing aid storyline begins in the “Hearing Test” episode (which originally aired in March 2026), when he is diagnosed with moderate hearing loss in one ear (acquired deafness that developed later in childhood) and is fitted with a hearing aid and a custom earmould.

In the episode, the doctor suggests that both George and Peppa take a hearing test when he hears George try to say Peppa’s name. The audiologist tests their hearing by asking them to place blocks in a bucket when they hear sounds through headphones and George is found to have moderate hearing loss in his left ear. The audiologist then uses putty to take a mould of George’s ear and fits him with his new, custom hearing aid.

The hearing aid immediately helps George hear sounds more clearly, including his own laugh. Further episodes also explore how his family, friends, and playgroup adapt to support him, including using visual cues and learning about accessibility.

Watch George receiving and adjusting to his new hearing aid in Peppa Pig.

Hearing loss normalised

Given 34 million children worldwide have disabling hearing loss (World Health Organization), and many more experience a hearing test situation, it’s great for children to see this normalised and represented accurately in such a popular show.

George’s new hearing aid storyline gets lots of things right: a moderate hearing loss in one ear, an accurate hearing test, and realistic reactions from his nursery friends, who shout to help him hear (please don’t!). Importantly, George is a main character, one of the main faces of the show, he’s not come in as a one-episode token character.

The storyline was developed with the help of the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) and the Hearing Loss Association of America. This input shows in how authentic George sounds and reacts to certain things. George has a moderate hearing loss and is wearing one hearing aid, not the stereotypical extreme often seen. In reality hearing loss comes in all shapes and sizes.

George’s acquired, moderate hearing loss is more typical than many people think. Around half of deaf children in the UK become deaf during childhood rather than being born deaf (Fortnum et al., BMJ 2001) and, according to NDCS statistics, a third have a moderate hearing loss, and almost a quarter have hearing loss in one ear. Only around one in eight is profoundly deaf. Because hearing loss can develop after birth, newborn screening can’t catch every case, which is why hearing checks matter throughout childhood.

As an audiologist, I found that the testing and explanations were portrayed really well. Putting a block in a bucket each time a sound is heard is a real technique, called play audiometry, which we use with young children. Testing through headphones lets us test each ear separately, which is how a one-sided loss like George’s is found. Additionally, the hearing aid was realistic (young children usually wear behind-the-ear hearing aids with a moulded earpiece) and it isn’t portrayed as an instant or perfect fix. As typically happens, when George goes into nursery the other children believe that they need to shout so that George can hear them. George reacts “oh no. I don’t like that.” It was a very natural and accurate portrayal.

As might be expected in a children’s programme, some aspects of the appointment aren’t completely accurate. Before a hearing test, we’d look in the ears (otoscopy) and check the eardrum (tympanometry) to rule out glue ear, which is the most common cause of hearing loss in young children and usually temporary. A newly found hearing loss in one ear would normally lead to a referral to ENT or a paediatrician to find the cause, and the impression taking and the fitting are usually separate appointments, as the earmould is made in a lab and takes a week or two.

Celebrating children’s differences

Georgia Meacham had her first hearing aids fitted at the age of 18 months, and is an actor, model and deaf advocate. I asked Georgia how this representation on children’s TV might have changed things for her growing up with hearing loss. She explained,

“I think it would have changed so much. Not just regarding myself, but I think it would have helped my family. I think as well it would have helped my friends when they saw my hearing aid. They would have been a bit more used to seeing a hearing aid because they would have seen it on TV already. They wouldn’t be staring at me.

…[these episodes] are helping hearing people to be able to be more deaf aware, families to be able to talk about hearing loss at home, how to have those conversations. I didn’t know how to talk to my mum about my hospital appointment. Whereas I think seeing other people speak and have these conversations, I could have been able to communicate better and maybe how I was feeling in more ways. I didn’t know the type of language to use…It’s so important that children feel seen. And the way to do that is to celebrate children’s differences.”

Love Island: what went wrong for Sam?

Sam Workman appeared as Love Island’s second contestant who had hearing loss on Season 13 of the UK series in 2026. The first deaf islander was Tasha Ghouri in 2022. Tasha was born deaf and had one cochlear implant fitted just before her fifth birthday. She reached the Love Island final and finished joint fourth with Andrew Le Page after 58 days.

Reflecting on her time on the show, Tasha has said that she lip-read most of the time and found it exhausting, especially as there was nowhere quiet to rest and recharge. Sadly, she also faced online abuse about the way she speaks. Given Tasha’s success, despite her struggles, I was interested to see how Sam would find the show four years later. Unlike Tasha, Sam has worn hearing aids in both ears since he was four years old.

Accessibility & the listening environment

Sam’s journey on the show ended when he was left single and dumped in a recoupling twist on day 16. Talk online suggested that Sam was a little bit too introverted for Love Island, or that Sam was too quiet… “He’s not got the chat. He’s not getting involved with the group conversations. He’s isolating himself”. Was Sam really “too quiet”, or was the villa still just one of the hardest listening environments imaginable?

Accessibility isn’t just about being able to physically access a building, it’s about being able to access conversation and social situations too. For someone who has a hearing loss, everything about the Love Island sound environment was difficult to access. Gossip, group conversations, night time conversations in darkness, whispers, and no acoustic control.

Hearing aids and cochlea implants are very different technologies: a cochlear implant bypasses the damaged part of the inner ear and is used for severe to profound hearing loss, while hearing aids amplify sound. Yet, both still struggle in a big, echoey, noisy villa, and both come off at night and in the pool. So, Sam appeared to be confronted with the same environmental struggles four years on.

Additionally for Sam, the Love Island house is big and open plan, with mirrors and windows everywhere. The sound is bouncing off everything and people are shouting at each other across huge distances. You have people in the pool, people in the gym area, people on the grass, people in the outdoor kitchen. Hearing aids work best within about 1.5 metres and, beyond that, the performance of any hearing aid, from any manufacturer, degrades.

I asked Georgia Meacham, actor, model, and deaf advocate, why she turned down invitations to appear on Love Island. Georgia explained,

“the thought of that environment scared me…the daily things like people in the pool chatting. I can’t go in the pool with my hearing aid. So, I’d be in the pool and I would be silent. What’s the point in that? Also, the heat in Majorca, in South Africa, in those villas. How uncomfortable? …When I’m on holiday, I let people know that, if I’m sunbathing, my hearing aids are out and we can’t chat for that period of time…because it’s just such a difficult environment.”

Neither Tasha nor Sam has spoken about accessibility support from the show, suggesting that little has changed between 2022 and 2026. Yet, simple changes like the use of remote microphones (a small transmitter worn by the person speaking, which sends their voice straight to the hearing aid), and briefing the other islanders on simple deaf awareness would make a huge difference. Georgia explained,

“Something that really worried me is when … [in] the first episode Sam mentioned his deafness and his fellow islander said, “Oh, really? You’re deaf? People should be made aware.”

…There should be a team saying, this is what Sam needs from you. This is what you need to do to communicate with Sam. You need to be facing him – all those simple awareness tips. But I actually feel like no one was told…And that’s really unfair. It’s really unfair on Sam and it’s really unfair on the islanders.”

Same struggles four years apart

Ultimately, both contestants relied on lip-reading and found it exhausting. After leaving the show, Sam concluded that life in the villa was tough at times as a person who has hearing loss. Taking his devices out at night left him feeling cut off from night time chatting and social dynamics. He also admitted that the group chats proved to be challenging as he couldn’t always lip read. This caused issues when his hearing aids were picking up the background noise as well as everyone talking at once. He noted that the level of focus required to maintain interaction can be extremely tiring.

So, what did the show get right? For Georgia, simply showing that deaf people are human and that they have normal experiences in the dating world, like everyone else, and they are desirable, is really important. However, she hopes that the producers of Love Island learn from this experience and get someone in to advise on how they can make the show more accessible in the future.