Strictly Come Dancing star Rose Ayling-Ellis has revealed she originally “hated” the powerful routine that incorporated silence.
The actress won the 19th series with professional Giovanni Pernice, with their Couple’s Choice routine in Week 8, earning high praise for its portrayal of Ayling-Ellis’ experience of being deaf.
Despite heaps of public support and 39 points from the judges – upgraded to a maximum 40 in the grand final – Ayling-Ellis revealed to The Guardian that she didn’t like the routine when it was initially conceived.
“I hated it,” she said. “I watched this pre-recorded video by external choreographers and immediately didn’t like what they’d come up with. I was up for the idea, as long as it wasn’t a patronising stunt. An attempt to get the pity vote, all sad, dreary and ‘poor me’.
“It was what hearing people think deaf people experience. Very insular, cut-off, small. It was so sad. And that’s not me,” she continued, before adding that the routine was reworked. “It felt totally different. From there, we created the dance, shaping and changing it throughout the week.
“[It felt] more true to me. It was only at camera rehearsals in the studio, when I was told the crew – who never stop – all dropped what they were doing to watch that I thought: ‘S***. This might be a big deal.’”
The actress, who played Frankie Lewis on EastEnders for two years before departing in 2022, recently revealed her next television project, with the star securing the lead part in Code of Silence.
The ITV drama sees Ayling-Ellis play Alison Woods, a deaf catering worker who is struggling to make ends meet while supporting her deaf mum Julie. Alison is then “plunged into a new and exhilarating world” when she's asked to use her lip-reading skills to uncover the conversations of dangerous criminals.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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