Strictly Rose I’ll rise up and smash down barriers
EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis has vowed to smash down barriers on Strictly.
As the show’s first deaf contestant, the 26-year-old felt she had something to prove.
All of the show’s stars, including the judges, have had deaf awareness training. And, for the first time, deaf fans can enjoy Strictly on the BBC iPlayer.
Bosses added British Sign Language interpretation on catch-up after Rose revealed some people need more than just subtitles.
When she and pro partner Giovanni Pernice, 31, used sign language in their Viennese Waltz routine, it sparked a huge increase in online searches for courses. Rose has been teaching Giovanni how to sign and her influence has extended to the other stars.
She said: “I don’t want to come on the show and just be a deaf person. I want to make changes.
“The other cast members and professionals are using captions on social media. And because they all have such big followings, so many people are realising the ability to add subtitles on social media is out there.
“Hopefully it will spread. The problem with social media is if you don’t use captions, they won’t invest money to make it better. But the more people use it, the more they’ll invest and the more it will improve – and help the th deaf community.
“So I just need everybody to do it. Little things like that make ma a real difference.”
Rose R and Giovanni scored 32 for their samba last night.
Kai K Widdrington and AJ Odudu, Odu Johannes Radebe and John Whaite plus Rhys Stephenson Step and Nancy Xu all performed perfo too.