'Excited' Strictly star Ellie Simmonds says being first dwarf on show is 'a real honour'
dailystar.co.ukStrictly Come Dancing. The 27-year-old, a five-time Paralympic gold medal winner, is set to become the first dwarf to appear on the show.
And Ellie described it as a real honour to represent people with disability, following on from the victory of deaf EastEnders actor Rose Ayling-Ellis with pro Giovanni Pernice last year. “I’ll be so, so nervous, and I will try not to think of all the people watching,” said Ellie, who attended the Commonwealth Games yesterday, in quotes reported by the Mirror.“My family and friends will support me and help me stay grounded.“I am the first dwarf doing the show, I will show how positive that is, that to be different is OK.
It is a real honour.”The Mirror reports that Walsall-born Ellie, 27, has kept the news secret for months.She said: “It has been so hard, you just want to tell everyone.To stay up to date with all the latest news, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.“I told my other half Matt, and my parents, but I only told my sister this morning.
It is a family tradition to watch it every year.“To be part of it is so exciting. It’ll be great to swap the goggles and the hat for the sequences and the make-up.”Ellie was born with achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism, and is 4ft.
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