Rose Ayling Ellis ‘Winning Strictly changed deaf people's lives'

ok.co.uk:

As this year’s Strictly hopefuls get ready to slip on their sequins and strut their stuff, it’s not surprising to hear that last year’s winner, Rose Ayling-Ellis, is feeling a tug at her heartstrings. “I really miss it,” the EastEnders actress, who was partnered with pro Giovanni Pernice, tells us. “I loved dressing up and the hair and make-up every week.That was the most exciting thing.” Rose, 27, raised the profile of the deaf community by appearing in the BBC One show and she and Giovanni even won a BAFTA for their Couple’s Choice number – a dance to Clean Bandit’s Symphony with a silent section. “I was so nervous,” she tells us of accepting the award. “My knees were shaking when it got announced. "I was on the stage and I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s Olivia Colman!’ "Stephen Graham and Suranne Jones were there too and Suranne was looking at me directly when I was doing my speech and looked emotional.

I was like, ‘Oh my God, they’re listening to me.This is amazing!’” And it wasn’t just celebrities listening to Rose and her message from the deaf community.

A Bill to make British Sign Language a recognised language was also passed after her Strictly triumph, while deaf people have been sharing with Rose how she has helped change their lives. “When you’re in Strictly you’re in a bubble and you don’t really see what’s going on in the outside world,” Rose tells us over Zoom, joined by her sign language interpreter Kirsty Edwards. “After I finished and I got out to see the deaf community again, they said more people had been saying thank you to them and more people were signing now.” Here, Rose tells us about how Strictly changed her life, the new campaign she’s supporting and Love Island star Tasha Ghouri’s representation.