She won hearts and broke down barriers during her triumphant run on Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, so Rose Ayling-Ellis says she was shocked when an angry man protested during her current stage performance. Rose, 28, who was the first deaf contestant to take part in BBC dance competition, says a member of the audience interrupted a matinee of As You Like It in London's West End to rant that they were “discriminating against hearing people."
Rose, who won Strictly with her pro dance partner Giovanni Pernice. said the man was "screaming" and looked at the former EastEnders actress directly. The retelling of the Shakespeare comedy incorporates the use of British Sign Language (BSL) and is captioned via screens on all four sides of the theatre to make it accessible to the entire audience.
Rose, whose silent dance routine during one episode won the must-see moment award at the BAFTA TV awards, plays Celia in the show. She took to Instagram to say: "During the matinee yesterday. An angry man in the audience interrupted the show with an entitled rant screaming that we were 'discriminating against hearing people!' He looks at me directly. It was shocking."
