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Ioan Gruffudd’s new girlfriend Bianca Wallace reveals battle with ‘aggressive multiple sclerosis’ that makes partially blind

Bianca Wallace opened up about living with MS (Picture: Instagram @iambiancawallace)

Bianca Wallace has spoken out about her battle with multiple sclerosis and the way it has affected her outlook on life. 

The Australian actress and producer, 29, took to Instagram to tell her followers about the ‘aggressive’ MS she was diagnosed with in 2018 and how it changed her health and lifestyle. 

Bianca, who has been dating Ioan Gruffudd, 48, since 2021 following his split from wife Alice Evans, 53, revealed that she’d secretly been battling the chronic health condition for several years. 

She admitted that people assumed when she spoke about the ‘lowest of lows’ in a New Year post that that ‘must have been the public nature of the past few months,’ but revealed the furore around her relationship hasn’t even ‘scratched the surface of the lowest of lows’. 

Revealing that she had ‘aggressive multiple sclerosis’, Bianca explained: ‘So in October 2018 I was diagnosed with MS. 

‘I was diagnosed with a very aggressive form, it was aggressive in nature and it came on hard and fast.’

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Multiple sclerosis is a lifelong condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord and lead to a wide range of symptoms, including problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance. 

In many cases, symptoms can be treated and the condition is most commonly diagnosed in people in their 20s and 30s, although it can develop at any age, and is more common in women than men. 

Bianca had been working in accounting at the time, when she went to pick up a pen and realised she couldn’t, before being taken to A&E where ‘everything changed’. 

Ioan Gruffudd was previously married to Alice Evans (Picture: Rich Polk/Getty Images for Path2Parenthood)

She explained: ‘Within a few weeks I couldn’t walk any more, the entirety of my right side was completely wiped out.’

Revealing how it inspired her to change her outlook on life, Bianca told her followers: ‘I was miserable, unhappy, I didn’t know if I would walk again.

‘I was living with regret. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me and due to the nature of MS, I still don’t. It was hardship that created who I am.’

She added: ‘That’s why I always tell people to just follow their heart as I know from experience how how debilitating regret can be.

‘I deal with a lot of drama because of the diagnosis. I go blind in my left eye, I have botox to lift it up. My entire right side has nerve damage.’

More: Ioan Gruffudd

Bianca held her hand up to the camera to show the tremors she has due to the nerve damage, adding: ‘During periods of high stress and high negative emotion, I lose my walk. This happens without fail, I’ve got no way around it so this is why I had to learn how to control my emotions.’

The actress made headlines after her relationship with Ioan went public as Alice often took to social media to talk about their split and divorce. 

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