Deaf community inspired as Rose arrives in Scotland with Strictly tour

The Strictly Come Dancing live tour swings into Glasgow this weekend.

It features professional dancers and celebrities including series winner Rose Ayling-Ellis – Strictly’s first deaf contestant, who has been inspiring the next generation of deaf performers.

Rose and Giovanni Pernice were crowned the latest winners of Strictly Come Dancing just before Christmas.

Week-after-week, Rose defied expectations and educated the public in ways you might not expect from a Saturday night TV show.

The UK Government backed a bill this week to make British Sign Language a legally recognised language across the whole of the UK – and it already has full legal status in Scotland.

Research carried out after Rose’s victory showed that two-thirds of children now feel more confident wearing their hearing aids and 70% said they feel happier talking about their own deafness.

Rose told STV News: “Yesterday, I left my hotel and then there was a mother and a little girl and she was about four-years-old and she came up to me and she was showing me her hearing aid and I said, ‘hello’ and I was showing her my hearing aid and that’s when it hit me.

“It made me realise, a little girl like her has got someone to look up to.”