Gabby Logan, 51, lovingly reassured her husband Kenny Logan, 52, after he opened up about his long-term battle with dyslexia – admitting that he still felt “embarrassed” to speak on the issue.
The former rugby player joined his wife on her podcast – The Mid-Point – ahead of Dyslexia Awareness Week in the UK, and discussed his experience of dyslexia, sharing some of the emotional turmoil that accompanies the condition and dogged his school days.
Kenny explained how dyslexia manifests for him personally and not only affects his ability to read, and the strategies he’s developed over the years to overcome it.
Kicking off their conversation, Gabby noted: “When I met you, it was one of the first things that you wanted to tell me about,” however, Kenny was quick to correct her recollection of the moment.
He explained: “You actually found out about it, I didn’t really want to tell you. When I was 21 I wouldn’t speak about it because I was so embarassed about it but I still feel nervous, because when I was a little boy I used to get tied up at my stomach, I was scared.
“Even now sitting here in the most comfortable environment sitting with somebody I love, I still feel emotion in my stomach which probably never leaves you, so you do feel quiet, in a nervous way thinking I don’t like going back here.
“I remember when I wrote my book, I had to stop talking about it because I didn’t want to talk about it. But now I am a lot more comfortable talking about it, I know how important for children to hear me speak.
“But also for adults to understand if they are dyslexic or if their children are, how you should be trying to help them and ways of making it easier in trying to understand what it is. I genuinely thought I could get antibiotics for it but that didn’t quite work.”
Kenny went on to speak about how he went through primary school and a large fraction of his secondary school life not really understanding why he was different – being bullied for being the “stupid” kid along the way.
He added that he had three months off of school because he “struggled” and often teachers would call him “lazy”, urging him to get back to school and to ignore the “stomach aches” he was encountering.
The sports presenter went on to discuss the current statistics of those struggling with dyslexia and said: “10 per cent of adults in the UK have got the reading age of an 11-year-old.
“There is a spectrum isn’t there because some people find it harder to process, some people have what you would have classically previously said word blindness, letter blindness.”
“Or where I grew up, stupid,” Kenny interjected before Gabby sweetly reassured: “We use better terms, and that’s not what you are though and you are not stupid and daft and kids now know they have trouble in these areas and special educational needs teachers aid them.”
Gabby previously opened up on how she and Kenny have kept their marriage alive – alongside raising their twins Lois and Reuben, who were born in 2004.
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She told The Independent: “Sometimes there’s going to be a player who needs picking up, and other times they’re the star of the game and it’s someone else who needs the boost.
“With a marriage, it’s the same: you’re never walking along the same bit of road at the same time.”
The star went on to say that she and her husband “never stop working” at their relationship, stating that marriage “needs a bit of an assessment” and explained that marriage is about making a “conscious effort” with one other.
“If you have something special, you need to look after it,” she concluded.
