Tasha Ghouri, 23, will be heading to the Love Island villa in Mallorca.
Tasha is a dancer and model who lives in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, and is breaking ground as Love Island's first deaf contestant. Tasha, who was born deaf and got a cochlear implant when she was five years old, went viral for modelling earrings for ASOS in 2021- with her cochlear implant in full view.
Annie Harris, advocacy officer at RNID, who is deaf, said: "It's great to see Natasha wearing her cochlear implant with pride, and her appearance on Love Island will be another boost for the deaf community.
READ MORE: When does Love Island 2022 start and what are the rules for the new series?
"We're so pleased to see the continued momentum around the representation of deaf people in mainstream TV and films. This is also a fantastic opportunity to increase public awareness and understanding about the different experiences of deaf people and people with hearing loss, which we hope will lead to positive change and break down more of the barriers they can face."
What is a cochlear implant and how do they work?
Bev Carter, senior audiologist at Hearing Direct describes getting a cochlear implant as "a very invasive procedure - a bit like having a pacemaker fitted".
She said: "The implant is implanted surgically - it's attached to an electrode array [a configuration of electrodes] that's placed into the inner ear. When the sound comes in, it sets off an electrical impulse that simulates what the hair cells do."
The patient wears a hearing aid hooked over the ear. This is connected to an electrode - "a round bit that attaches magnetically to the skull. The hearing aid picks up the sound, the electrode transfers the sound to the electrode array within the skull, into the inner ear".
After the procedure, Ms Carter said: "The hearing aid can't be fitted for at least three or four months while all that is settling down" - so the patient wouldn't be able to hear for that period.
In terms of upkeep, she added: "The electrodes are checked regularly, and if they need replacing, then it would have to be replaced. During that time, the person would be completely deaf without it."
Who might benefit from a cochlear implant?
Ms Carter said: "A cochlear implant is for those people where a traditional hearing aid is not going to help them, because the damage to their hair cells in the cochlea is too severe."
She indicates it's much better to get the implant sooner rather than later, adding: "If a person has a cochlear implant from a very young age, then probably they can talk really well - the younger it's done, the better.
"Most people with an implant will also lip read to a degree, so they will always like to be facing you when they talk to you."
Ms Carter says Ghouri's implant is "not going to be a problem for her" in the villa - "other than she would have to take it off to go swimming, because water would affect it".
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