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'Strictly' fans won over by guest judge Cynthia Erivo signing her comments to Rose Ayling-Ellis

'Strictly' viewers loved Cynthia Erivo signing to Rose Ayling-Ellis. (BBC)
'Strictly' viewers loved Cynthia Erivo signing to Rose Ayling-Ellis. (BBC)

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.

Read more: Strictly 2021 stars name their inspirational former contestants

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."

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…"

Programme Name: Strictly Come Dancing 2021 - TX: 20/11/2021 - Episode: Strictly Come Dancing - TX9 LIVE SHOW (No. n/a) - Picture Shows: **LIVE SHOW** Giovanni Pernice, Rose Ayling-Ellis - (C) BBC - Photographer: Guy Levy
Rose Ayling-Ellis danced a Frozen-themed Quickstep. (BBC/Guy Levy)

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."

Read more: Strictly 2021 couples share their most stressful moments so far

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."

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?