Rose Ayling-Ellis confessed that she was “super excited” to reveal some big news yesterday, just a few short months after her success on Strictly Come Dancing.
The 27-year-old will be the first celebrity to sign a CBeebies Bedtime Story in British Sign Language this Sunday (May 8).
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Strictly star Rose Ayling-Ellis on Instagram
It was announced that the 27-year-old EastEnders star will be signing a CBeebies Bedtime story this Sunday.
The story Rose will be signing is ‘Can Bears Ski?’ by Raymond Antrobus. The story follows a young bear and his dad on their journey into the discovery and management of deafness.
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The story draws on the author’s experience of how isolating it can be for a deaf child.
The story will be subtitled, and Rose will only speak at the beginning and end of the show. The rest of the time she will be signing.
“I am super excited to read my first CBeebies Bedtime Story in British Sign Language and it’s even more wonderful to share a story written by a deaf writer,” she said.
“I hope deaf children enjoy the story and it inspires hearing children to want to learn BSL more!”
CBeebies Bedtime Stories
Earlier today (Friday, May 6), the official CBeebies Instagram announced the exciting news to their 164k followers.
The photo uploaded showed a smiling Rose, in the CBeebies Bedtime Stories studio, smiling while cuddling a teddy bear.
“Join @rose.a.e for a very special #DeafAwarenessWeek story!” CBeebies captioned the snap.
“She’s signing Can Bears Ski? by @raymond_antrobus & @pollydunbar in #britishsignlanguage 6:50pm, Sun 8th May then streaming on @bbciplayer,” they added.
Plenty of fans of the star took to the comments to express their happiness at the news.
“Can’t wait for this. Rose is such an inspiration,” one wrote.
“Looking forward to this. What a lovely girl. Always makes me smile,” another said.
“We cannot wait for this, love Rose and love this story. Thank you @cbeebieshq for sharing the importance of deaf awareness week,” a third wrote.
Rose has been a huge advocate for British Sign Language to become an official language – and now it looks like it will be!
The British Sign Language Bill looks set to be given the green light by the Queen.
But Rose wasn’t the only one who was happy about the news! Her fellow Strictly champion, Giovanni Pernice, was over the moon too.
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The Italian dancer shared the news on his Instagram and paid tribute to Rose too.
“Be proud @rose.a.e for what you have done,” he wrote.
Rose also shared the news on her Instagram too, writing: “Go Lizzie [the Queen], sign that paper.”
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