Rose Ayling-Ellis’s impressive performances on Strictly Come Dancing have captured the hearts of viewers and won top marks from judges but her appearance on the show seems to be having another effect.
The EastEnders actress appears to have caused a surge in people wanting to learn British sign language (BSL). Ayling-Ellis, 26, the bookies’ favourite to win the TV show’s glitterball trophy, is the first profoundly deaf contestant to take to the dancefloor since Strictly launched in 2004 and she signs on the show.
The training provider BSL Courses saw more than 1,200 people apply for trial lessons last week. On a typical day just 20 or 30 people would register. Russell Fowler, director at BSL Courses, said the actress is a “fantastic ambassador” for the language.
Signature, one of the largest awarding bodies for BSL courses, reported that 83,000 people visited its website last month, compared with 25,000 in September. Strictly began its latest series on September 18.
Hundreds of people have signed up for Signature’s new online beginners’ BSL class, which it launched last month at a cost of £9.99 in an attempt to ensure that students learn from accredited providers rather than unqualified people on social media sites.
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Lindsay Foster, Signature’s chief executive, said: “The challenge we have is to try and get people to learn it, rather than follow YouTube clips. Key for us now is keeping the momentum going. If we can increase the number of people who use BSL in the country it improves communication for everybody.”
Ayling-Ellis and her dance partner, Giovanni Pernice, 31, achieved the first perfect score of the series last weekend with a Halloween-themed tango. Last night the couple danced a samba to Kate Hudson singing Cinema Italiano.
Ayling-Ellis and Pernice, who has been learning BSL to help communicate with his dance partner, have even included sign language in their routines. At the start of their Viennese waltz two weeks ago the pair, playing a couple in a stormy relationship, signed an argument. They revealed after the dance that it was about breaking up.
The BBC, after discussion with Ayling-Ellis, decided not to subtitle the BSL argument, leaving viewers who did not know the language in the dark about what the couple were saying.
“The fact people who don’t know BSL couldn’t understand the beginning of the dance mirrors how deaf people often feel,” a source at the broadcaster said.
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The show’s hosts, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, have signed with Ayling-Ellis, while Craig Revel Horwood, one of the judges, has delivered his signature “A-ma-zing” in sign language.
Ayling-Ellis has a hearing aid and is able to pick up some of the music and hear the beat. She can also hear someone singing — but cannot identify the words — and feels vibrations on the dancefloor. She counts the beat in her head. “It’s a common misconception that deaf people can’t enjoy music,” Ayling-Ellis told The Times last month.
Mark Atkinson, chief executive of RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People), said that deaf people are appearing on screens more often, including in Sound of Metal, the Oscar-winning film. He said the fact that Ayling-Ellis is “doing so brilliantly puts this in a league of its own”.
One in five people in the UK have some form of hearing loss, according to the RNID. The charity estimates that 151,000 people use BSL, 87,000 of whom are deaf.
