Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis has revealed she ‘hated’ an emotional moment with Giovanni Pernice on the show.
The EastEnders star, 29, brought viewers to tears in 2021 when she and her professional dance partner Giovanni, 34, performed part of their dance routine in silence.
Rose, who is a British Sign Language (BSL) user, and the Italian star danced to Clean Bandit’s track Symphony as a way of honouring the deaf community.
As part of their contemporary routine, they danced for a 30-second segment completely without music.
The dance proved so moving it was celebrated at the BAFTAs with an award for ‘moment of the year’.
Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, 29, has revealed she ‘hated’ an emotional moment with Giovanni Pernice, 34, in a new interview
Rose, who is a British Sign Language (BSL) user, and the Italian star danced to Clean Bandit’s track Symphony as a way of honouring the deaf community
The EastEnders star brought viewers to tears in 2021 when she and her professional dance partner Giovanni performed part of their dance routine in silence
But almost three years on, Rose has admitted in an interview with The Guardian that she was against the idea when it was first suggested.
She explained that she felt it was she was a cheap grab for sympathy and she didn’t want it to be perceived as tokenistic.
Speaking to The Guardian, the actress said: ‘I hated it. 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.’
She added that she felt it was a skewed perception of what deaf people experienced, explaining: ‘It was what hearing people think deaf people experience,’
‘Very insular, cut-off, small. It was so sad. And that’s not me.’
Instead, she thought the the routine should be ‘energetic, vibrant, and full of life’, and the pair decided to dance to the track Symphony.
According to Rose, she realised the moment would be considered a ‘big deal’ and she was right with many viewing the routine as one of the show’s most defining performances in it’s 20-year history.
But almost three years on, Rose has admitted in an interview with The Guardian that she was against the idea when it was first suggested (pictured in 2022)
According to Rose, she realised the moment would be considered a ‘big deal’ and she was right with many viewing the routine as one of the show’s most defining performances(pictured together with the winning trophy)
Rose explained that she felt it was she was a cheap grab for sympathy and she didn’t want it to be perceived as tokenistic so worked with producers to change it
As well as being an actress, Rose has also appeared on documentaries and is an advocate for better education of BSL.
Her impact on her partner Giovanni led him to incorporate sign language interpreters into his live shows away from Strictly when he toured across the country.
Giovanni left the show this year after nine years following an official complaint made against him by his 2023 partner, Amanda Abbington.
Amanda accused the dancer of ‘bullying’ behaviour that became ‘disastrously unworkable’ in the five weeks she trained with him before quitting the show.
The BBC have since launched a probe about his training room conduct, though Rose has never spoken out publicly about the allegations against him.
Ahead of the results of the investigation are revealed, Giovanni announced this weekend he will now be joining the Italian version of the series instead as he moves on from the claims.
Rose’s admission comes as Tasha Ghouri has broken her silence on the scandal.
Giovanni’s former flame Tasha gave her thoughts on Sunday ahead of her stint on the show which starts later this month.
Giovanni’s ex flame Tasha Ghouri broke her silence on the Strictly Come Dancing scandal on Sunday ahead of her stint on the show which starts later this month
It has been a tough year for Giovanni who was let go from the show after Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington, 50, made a series of accusations about his teaching methods
The former Love Island star, 26, – who was born deaf – dated the now-axed pro, 34, about six months before finding fame on the ITV dating show.
Tasha has now told The Sun of the scandal: ‘I wasn’t there – I’m here for my own experience on the show. So I’m focusing on myself to just really enjoy it.’
She added of her old romance with Giovanni: ‘I’ve met up with him a few times. But that was years ago. We are not in touch now, this is like ancient history. I’m so happy with Andrew, and he’s my future, so I don’t want to talk about the past.
‘It’s not my place to comment on [the allegations against Giovanni]. I’m here for my own experiences. I’m here just for me.’
Tasha also told how she has received advice from former winner of the show Rose who was also born deaf and was partnered with Giovanni.