Strictly Come Dancing champions Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice appeared on This Morning today and revealed they will do their groundbreaking Couples’ Choice dance on the upcoming Strictly tour, and Rose revealed she is fighting to make sign language a registered language in England.
Host Phillip Schofield began the interview by asking Rose if winning the show has sunk in and she said, “It still hasn’t sunk in yet. I had Christmas with my family, it was all a bit mad and then I had one week when I actually had a break, and then I really missed it. I was like, ‘I want to go back!’ It’s nice I have the tour to look forward to.”
On the moment they were crowned winners, Rose revealed, “I was speechless. When it actually happened, you sort of imagine what you would say and what you would feel like, but when it happened I didn’t know what to say, I was so speechless, I couldn’t even breathe!”
Holly Willoughby asked Giovanni what it was like to win for the first time after seven years and he said, “All the time, it’s been nice because you reach the final, but winning has always been my dream…The whole experience, the whole journey has been phenomenal. That was the cherry on the cake.”
Phillip asked Giovanni if he slept in the bed with his glitter ball trophy and Giovanni revealed, “Yes, oh my God yes, I was reaching for it for seven years and in the end, when I got it, I put it on my pillow and was like, ‘Hi!’”
He added he’s left the trophy in Italy with his parents, “My mum and dad are massive fans, so I think it was the right thing to do… It’s there with them, hopefully another one to come!”
Holly asked Rose about the Strictly tour and Rose explained, “It’s not so intense because we won’t be doing new dances, we’ll be doing old dances. But I can still enjoy the experience of Strictly, but it’s nice and slow.”
Giovanni added, “It’s not the pressure of 11 million people watching, it will be more relaxed.”
Rose then said again she misses dancing, “I actually really missed dancing during Christmas. I don’t want to forget anything, sometimes I practice like, ‘I don’t want to forget this!’ So I’m there pointing my feet.”
Phillip asked if they will do their iconic Couples’ Choice dance where they danced in silence and Rose said, “Yeah, I think it would be weird for us not to do it.”
Giovanni said, “It was such a special moment. It’s such an important dance, it’s a statement. So doing it in an arena with 10,000 people live and to stop the music there would be quite spectacular. It’s one of the most beautiful things we’ve done on Strictly, so we both want to do it so much.”
Rose joked, “I hope no one will eat crisps by the side!”
Holly said, “You will be able to hear a pin drop in that arena, it was a bit of magic on TV.”
On feeling more brave since doing the show, Rose said, “I think you have to be crazy to do dancing on a live show every week and learn in three days. I think if I can do that, it made me feel like, ‘I can actually do a lot of stuff.’”
Phillip said the Google search for British sign language was up by 488 per cent and added Rose had inspired a whole range of people, and Rose said, “I think that’s amazing because sign language needs to be more appreciated. It’s got such a rich history. The first record of sign language in the UK was 400 years ago.
“People don’t realise it’s such a beautiful language, it’s got its own grammar, its own structure, so it’s really nice to see people inspired by that and want to learn. Even just a small, simple sign can make a big difference.”
Holly and Phil then showed a VT of three deaf children - who have been inspired by Rose - dancing.
On seeing the VT, Rose said, “I think it’s really lovely because it reminds me of when I was a child. When I was a child, I didn’t have anybody to look up to really. So I can understand how much of an impact it is to finally see someone like you on TV, it’s much bigger than people think it is. I can’t believe I’m the one people are looking up to!”
On her fight to make sign language registered as an official language in England, Rose explained, “It’s been recognised as a language, but it’s not been official. That becomes such a big problem. I have heard so many stories about deaf people going to a doctor appointment and they ask for an interpreter and they don’t refer them an interpreter, so they end up needing their child to translate, or a family member. That shouldn’t be. Because it’s not an official language, we can’t do anything about it.”
She added, “I’ve called Rosie Cooper the MP, so I think she’s going to start to debate. It’s passed the first stage but it has to go through the second stage at the end of January. If it goes through, and then they have a third one, it will become an official language.”
Giovanni explained he will have an interpreter on his upcoming solo tour. He said, “I think it’s about time. Rose opened my eyes thinking about how a lot of people would maybe love to watch the show. It’s important that everybody is inclusive, we have to be more inclusive in general. And also she’s coming to watch the show!”
And on returning to Eastenders, Rose revealed, “It was good fun, it was weird to be back. Everyone was so excited to see me again. Back in The Vic, it was really lovely.”
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV and ITV Hub