Last year’s Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis hit back at an article which compared Ellie Simmonds to her.
She took to her Instagram Stories to defend the show after the article declared Strictly Come Dancing the BBC’s “latest woke box-ticking exercise”.
Rose Ayling-Ellis hits back at Strictly criticism
The actress, who has been deaf since birth, defended the show on her Instagram Stories by sharing a video by former Strictly 2021 contestant John Whaite.
John was part of the first male same-sex couple last year when he was partnered with Johannes Radebe.
In the story, the 27-year-old writes: “Please have a watch of John’s story… Thank you for speaking up about this, John.
“Remember, if you think TV is too ‘woke’, you have been living your life being privileged enough not to notice this. It is a huge deal for those in the minority.”
John posted multiple videos to his story saying that the article gave him a “sleepless night” and that it had “really angered” him.
The article said that the show was “pushing indigestible quantities of diversity down viewers’ throats”.
In his story, John said: “It’s an article that directly compares, on BBC’s Strictly, my partnership with Johannes with that of Richie [Anderson] and Giovanni [Pernice].
“It also compares Ellie Simmonds on the show to Rose Ayling-Ellis last year.”
He then pleads: “Please don’t use my partnership with Johannes as a way to undermine or erode the beauty of Richie and Giovanni’s partnership.”
Rose says not to compare Strictly’s Ellie Simmonds to her
At the end of her paragraph about the article, Rose shared her views on people comparing her and Ellie.
Rose and Ellie have both campaigned to raise awareness for their disabilities.
However, that’s about as far as the comparison goes.
Rose said: “Please don’t compare me to Ellie. We both have completely different life experiences that it’s just not comparable.
“Just be open to listen and learn. No disabled people are the same.
“I myself am learning lots from Ellie, who is amazing, btw!”
Rose then posted a screenshot of an article in the Guardian titled “Ellie Simmonds on Strictly smashes prejudices about what a dancer can be”.
She wrote: “This is better!” with a love-heart eye emoji.
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In John’s stories, he also said: “In using the comparison between Rose and Ellie, what I am reading is, if a disability or an impairment isn’t visible and it’s not awkward, and it doesn’t break the mould of what’s been before, then it’s digestible.
“But as soon as it becomes a little bit different to watch, then [the writer] doesn’t want to see it, basically. Which I say is bigotry, it’s disgusting, it isn’t necessary to say those things.”
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