Rose Ayling-Ellis is the 12th contestant confirmed for ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
Rose Ayling-Ellis
The ‘EastEnders’ actress became the first ever deaf actor to play a deaf character on the soap when she joined the cast as Frankie Lewis last year, and she will now be hoping to “do the deaf community proud” by taking to the dance floor on the BBC Latin and ballroom dance competition.
In a statement, she said: “To be the first deaf contestant on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ is sooooo exciting ... and a little bit scary. It is the hardest secret I have ever had to keep so it feels amazing to finally have this out in the open! I hope I will do the deaf community proud and break down more barriers. But I am also very excited to learn an incredible new skill and even better I get to learn whilst wearing beautiful dresses made especially for me!”
The news was announced by the ‘EastEnders’ official Twitter account on Thursday (12.08.21), who also posted a video interview with Emma Barton and Rose.
Speaking in the interview about being the first-ever deaf contestant on ‘Strictly’, she said: “I feel like … finally! It’s about time, but I can’t believe that it’s me that’s doing it. I’m so so excited, and I think it would be great to break the stereotype that people think that deaf people can’t enjoy music and learn to dance.”
Rose’s casting comes after Nina Wadia, Greg Wise, Tilly Ramsay, Katie McGlynn, Dan Walker, Sara Davies, Tom Fletcher, Robert Webb, AJ Odudu, Rhys Stephenson, and John Whaite - who will be one half of the show's first-ever all-male partnership - were all recently confirmed for this year's 'Strictly'.