‘I hated it’ reveals Strictly’s Rose Ayling-Ellis as she discusses key moment with Giovanni Pernice
STRICTLY Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis has confessed to initially hating one of the most landmark moments of her time on the show.
The EastEnders star left viewers in tears back in 2021 when she and pro partner Giovanni Pernice performed part of their contemporary dance routine in complete silence.
Dancing to Clean Bandit track Symphony, the pair honoured the deaf community with the 30-second segment in their routine which completely cut the music.
The dance proved so impactful and moving it was celebrated the next year at the Baftas, winning them the audience-voted ‘moment of the year’.
But nearly three years on, Rose has now admitted she was dead against the idea when she was first approached with it, believing it would appear like a cheap grab for sympathy.
Speaking to The Guardian, the actress said: “I hated it. I watched this prerecorded 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.”
“It was what hearing people think deaf people experience,” she added. “Very insular, cut-off, small. It was so sad. And that’s not me.”
Instead, she fought for the routine to become something more “energetic, vibrant, and full of life”, with the result being Symphony.
According to Rose, she realised with the amount of effort going into the routine by people on the show that it would be considered a “big deal”.
It’s now largely perceived as one of the most defining performances of the show’s entire 20-year history.
Taking home the glitterball at the end of the series, Rose’s impact has continued to raise awareness for the deaf community.
As well as appearing on documentaries, Rose has become an advocate for better education of British Sign Language (BSL).
She also inspired her pro partner Giovanni 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.
EastEnders stars who've been on Strictly Come Dancing
Throughout its 20-year history, Strictly Come Dancing has welcomed several stars from BBC soap EastEnders. Here's a look at how some of them did over the years.
- Christopher Parker (Series One): Christopher played Alfie Moon’s (Shane Richie) younger brother Spencer from 2002 to 2005. finished as runner-up in Strictly’s first series.
- Jill Halfpenny (Series Two): Jill starred as Kate Mitchell in EastEnders from 2002 to 2005. She triumphed over Denise Lewis and Julian Clary to win the second series of Strictly.
- Louisa Lytton (Series Four): Known for her role as EastEnders’ Ruby Allen, Louisa took part in Strictly’s fourth series. She finished in fourth place.
- Letitia Dean (Series Five): Letitia, who debuted as Sharon Watts in the show’s first episode, took to the Strictly dance floor in series five. She finished in fourth place.
- Matt Di Angelo (Series Five): Dean Wicks actor Matt also competed in series five of Strictly, finishing as runner-up behind Alesha Dixon.
- Gillian Taylforth (Series 6): Gillian, known for her long-running portrayal as Kathy Beale, took part in series 6. She ended up being the second person voted out.
- Jessie Wallace (Series 6): Kat Slater actress Jessie also competed in series 6, but was fourth voted out.
- Scott Maslen (Series 8): Scott, who plays Jack Branning, reached a respectable fourth place on Strictly.
- Kara Tointon (Series 8): Kara, who played Dawn Swann, won Strictly series 8 back in 2010.
- Jake Wood (Series 12): While his EastEnders character Max Branning was unlucky-in-love, actor Jake fared better with a fifth-place finish on Strictly.
- Kellie Bright (Series 13): Kellie – aka Queen Vic landlady Linda Carter – finished as the runner-up of series 13.
- Emma Barton (Series 17): Known for playing Honey Mitchell, Emma reached third place on Strictly in 2019.
- Maisie Smith (Series 18): Formerly playing Tiffany Butcher-Baker, actress Maisie was 2020’s second-place Strictly finalist.
- Rose-Ayling Ellis (Series 19): Rose won over viewers’ hearts when she soared to victory in 2021.
- Bobby Brazier (Series 21): Having joined the cast as ‘Freddie Slater’ in 2022, Bobby joined the 2023 Strictly line-up. He finished in third place.
- Jamie Borthwick (Series 22): Jamie, aka Jay Brown, won the 2023 Strictly Christmas Special – and has been signed up for the next full series.