'Strictly' fans won over by guest judge Cynthia Erivo signing her comments to Rose Ayling-Ellis
Strictly Come Dancing fans have shared how impressed they were to see guest judge Cynthia Erivo signing her critique to Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Theatre and screen star Erivo is replacing Craig Revel Horwood in musicals week after he tested positive for COVID, and is already a hit with viewers.
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As she signed her initial comments to Ayling-Ellis congratulating her on her performance, viewers were thrilled to see that she had learned British Sign Language (BSL) to communicate with the EastEnders actor.
One viewer tweeted: "Cynthia learned sign language to judge Rose. What a superstar."
We couldn't be happier to welcome guest judge, Tony and Emmy winner Cynthia Erivo to #Strictly for Musicals Week! pic.twitter.com/sxzHOkYGxu
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) November 20, 2021
Someone else added: "Lovely seeing Cynthia Erivo making the effort to sign to Rose with her comments."
Another fan agreed: "Cynthia using sign. What a lovely kind gesture."
Ayling-Ellis looked surprised and delighted that Erivo signed to her and one person tweeted: "Rose’s face when Cynthia started to sign her comments, though…"
The actor and her dance partner Giovanni Pernice, who wowed fans with a silent section in last week's dance to represent her experience on Strictly, incorporated BSL into this week's Frozen-themed Quickstep as they signed the spoken, acted parts of the song.
One viewer tweeted: "Rose and Giovanni incorporating sign language in their dances is so lovely."
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Someone else agreed: "That was one of the cutest routines I've ever seen, and the incorporation of BSL again was so good. Beautiful once again from Rose and Gio!"
Another person added: "i love that rose and gio did all the speaking part in sign language."
"In this dance we have a very special moment, and I'm doing it for the deaf community." 💖 So much power in the silence of Rose and Giovanni's routine. #Strictly @RoseAylingEllis @pernicegiovann1 pic.twitter.com/kW8OTggI5X
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) November 13, 2021
The couple have been in the news all week for their silent dance section last Saturday, which viewers called moving as Ayling-Ellis dedicated the performance to the deaf community.
Speaking on This Morning, Ayling-Ellis said: “It was a special moment for me because a lot of the time you always see a deaf person getting on well and doing what is normal but you don’t see how much hard work goes behind it.
“So I think the silent moment was to show this is what I do when I dance. This is the amount of work I do. But I still do it with a smile on my face.
“I think that’s what my message is. And that is what a lot of deaf people go through.”
Watch: Who is Strictly's Rose Ayling-Ellis?