Rose Ayling-Ellis’s landmark win on Strictly Come Dancing 2021 has been praised by Deaf charity RNID.
The actress made history as the first Deaf winner of the dancing competition after impressing the judges with her amazing musicality despite not being able to hear the music.
Mark Atkinson, Chief Executive of RNID, said of the history-making win: ‘Tonight, Rose hasn’t just won the UK’s biggest TV dance competition, she’s also captured the hearts of a nation.
‘Rose made history as Strictly’s first deaf contestant, and throughout the last 13 weeks she’s given millions of viewers an insight into her world, and amazed the judges with her outstanding dancing.’
Rose had broken the record for the earliest perfect score of 40 out of 40 on the competition, and wowed fans with her couple’s choice routine with partner Giovanni Pernice, in which they incorporated a section where the music cut out entirely to show what it was like for her performing every week.
Mark added: ‘Rose has given the public a beautiful insight into the deaf community and deaf culture, and she has raised awareness of the barriers deaf people and people with hearing loss face, and what we can all do to make a difference.