What a moment (Picture: PA)
Strictly Come Dancing 2021 winner Rose Ayling-Ellis celebrated the one year anniversary of her touching Couples Choice routine which honoured the Deaf community.
The former EastEnders actress and partner Giovanni Pernice danced a beautiful routine to Clean Bandit’s Symphony, and their performance was paused midway through with Rose and Giovanni instead dancing in silence, a moment which was highly praised by viewers and the judges alike.
On the night of the emotional routine, judge Motsi Mabuse said: ‘Sometimes it’s more than scores and marks and dances, sometimes it’s just a moment, and we just had that. Thank you so much.’
And since that moment, Rose has opened up about the impact of the dance, and how it ‘changed her life’.
Taking to Twitter, the former EastEnders actress shared a shot of her and Giovanni with a message that read: ‘One moment of silence can help a community feel heard.’
Fans flooded the comment section to emphasise on the beautiful moment, with one writing: ‘I’ve been watching @bbcstrictly since it started and you and @pernicegiovann1 doing this dance was by far the best moment ever. Such a beautiful partnership.’
‘The most beautiful dance and the moment imo that you won the competition. I am so missing you guys this year. Could you possibly get together and surprise us with a dance sometime soon. Love you guys,’ another added.
Rose, who has been Deaf since birth, was praised for raising awareness and creating visibility for her community, and there was a major increase in members of the public wanting to learn sign language after she appeared on the show.
The star and Giovanni won a Bafta TV Award back in May for their iconic routine.
Their dance won a prestigious award at the Baftas (Picture: REX)
‘It is a very special moment for us because hopefully, it showed how powerful TV can be, where it has actually introduced changes,’ she said while accepting her win.
‘It has even helped the BSL (British Sign Language) law be passed recently.’
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She added: ‘It made people stand up more for sign language and just better Deaf awareness and positiveness towards people. We have still got a long way to go but it is such a great start.
‘We are so, so, so proud of it.’
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What a special moment.
