I’ve watched Rose Ayling-Ellis: Signs for Change, and it’s time to admit that the girls on Love Island should be pied in favour of a real role model.
This week, Strictly Come Dancing star Rose presents a personal journey into what it was like growing up deaf – and, at times, it’s heartbreaking.
“Are you ready to listen?” she asks at the start of this one-off documentary. And, having been lucky enough to watch a press preview of the show, I’m ready to do whatever Rose tells me.
The vacuous cast of Love Island should all start grafting to be more like role model and actress Rose Ayling-Ellis… Here’s why.
Why the Love Island cast give me the ick
I’m not stating anything new here, when I say that the Love Island cast aren’t exactly known for their brains. Yes, there have been some exceptions… But, on the whole, the likes of Molly Marsh and Kady McDermott were just born with good locks. More thanks to their parents (and often their surgeons), than any ‘grafting’ on their part.
I’m a feminist, so of course I believe that women can do anything they want to and with their bodies. If you want to become famous for wearing a thong and slurping tongue, you go girl. Squirt your lips with filler, knock yourself out!
But in a world with women like Rose Ayling-Ellis, the Love Island beauties just look vacuous and silly. Think Tesco’s Everyday Value, compared to Tesco Finest.
Rose Ayling-Ellis should be every young girl’s role model. And if I was going to pull anyone for a chat, it would be someone who has achieved as much as she has – through sheer grit and determination.
Why Rose Ayling-Ellis should be every young girl’s role model
This week, Rose Ayling-Ellis returns to our TV screens with new new documentary Signs for Change (Monday, June 26, 2023). And it’s every bit as inspiring as you’d expect from a lady as tenacious as Rose.
In the one-off show, the actress describes what it was like growing up deaf, having to fight to be understood. Despite her obstacles, Rose has become one of the UK’s most popular and likeable TV stars.
As well as becoming the first regular deaf character in EastEnders, she won Strictly Come Dancing in 2021. She didn’t just win it, she smashed the living daylights out of it, alongside her partner Giovanni Pernice. Her Couple’s Choice to Symphony, which included a silent scene, is one of THE most iconic moments of TV ever.
Rose, 28, has single-handedly – with a little help from The Bay actor Nadeem Islam – shown the UK that being deaf is not a disability. Instead, she calls it her “proudest identity”.
That’s not to say she didn’t have it tough. During the BBC One documentary, she admits: “Sometimes I feel like I am working really hard just to fit into a hearing world.”
She also shares how medical professionals told her family that Rose would “never learn to talk”, and that she “often felt left out” growing up.
She asks: “Where do I belong?” And the answer is exactly where you are – showing the world you can do anything.
Rose Ayling-Ellis is a role model – her talent shines through
While Rose Ayling-Ellis’ obvious talent is acting, dancing, and just being so damn likeable, she’s also skilled in positivity. And that’s a pretty rare thing nowadays.
We’re living in a world where everyone seems entitled… And Love Islanders want to be famous just for being, you know, peng. But Rose has worked her arse off to get to where she is today.
As well as being deaf, she’s faced shocking discrimination. During Rose Ayling-Ellis: Signs for Change, she shares her joy at landing a theatre role in a Shakespeare play – and she performed using sign language.
The actor performed entirely in sign language in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. The Strictly champion made her West End debut as Celia in the production, which was held at Soho Place in London from 14 December to 28 January 2023.
However, she was left “trembling” during her last night when a man began shouting aggressively at her, saying he couldn’t understand the play.
She says: “We got off and then someone told me he said that he didn’t like the show and he said that we were discriminating. I just can’t believe that a man thought it was okay to stand up and interrupt the show.
“It’s like, why can’t I be a normal actress and go out and perform without being interrupted? You know what it [has] only fuelled the fire in me.”
And just like that, Rose turned a negative into a positive. And that’s why she is my role model, and every young girl should be channeling her vibes too!
Read more: Giovanni Pernice teases big Rose Ayling-Ellis news during GMB appearance
Rose Ayling-Ellis: Signs for Change airs on Monday, June 26, 2023 at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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