Media veteran Ita Buttrose has revealed that she is confined to a wheelchair.
In a sad health update, the 83-year-old said that she has to use the mobility aid because she could no longer walk long distances due to an isolated gait disorder.
‘This was not part of my plan. But life is full of detours,’ Ita said during Tuesday’s episode of Nine’s A Current Affair.
The former editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly frankly admitted she was ’embarrassed at first’ but ‘it is what it is’.
‘I do sometimes go, “Why me!” You know, because it’s so frustrating, and but it is what it is. And so I have to live life this way,’ Ita admitted.
She continued: ‘I can’t walk. I can’t walk very long distances, okay, without support, and it’s a lot easier to travel by wheelchair.
Ita Buttrose (pictured) has revealed that she is confined to a wheelchair
In a sad health update, the 83-year-old said that she had to use the mobility aid because she could no longer walk long distances due to an isolated gait disorder
‘I did feel embarrassed at first having to use a wheelchair. You know, I used to have quite a shapely leg, and I used to wear lovely shoes,’ she joked.
She also confessed that, having been an ‘independent woman’ since she was 15 years old, she was no longer self-reliant.
‘Now I’m not independent. I’m dependent on other people to help me live my life. And it’s, it’s a very difficult adjustment,’ she said.
Ita discovered her condition after undergoing back surgery in 2021, when she began having difficulties in taking a simple step.
After a round of tests, doctors diagnosed the condition as an isolated gait disorder.
Elsewhere in the interview, she discussed her new tell-all memoir, Unapologetically Ita, in which she talks about sex, ageing and her turbulent five years as chairperson of the ABC.
It comes after Ita offloaded her inner-city Sydney home for $1,675,000 early this year.
The sale of the two-bathroom, two-bedroom high-rise apartment in Redfern comes just two years ago Ita purchased it for $1.55million.
‘This was not part of my plan. But life is full of detours,’ said Ita on A Current Affair
Located on the 18th floor of the sought-after Moore Park Gardens apartment block, the split-level flat boasts stunning views of the city skyline.
According to the report, Ita is looking to buy another property closer to her daughter Kate McDonald, who lives in southeast Sydney.
Ita first rose to fame in the 1970s as the founding editor of the lifestyle and fashion women’s magazine Cleo.
She was later the high-profile editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly.
Ita hosted Studio 10 between 2013 and 2018.
