Love Island star Tasha Ghouri has praised her friend Rose Ayling-Ellis for being so "inspirational".
The dancer and model, who hails from Thirsk, Yorkshire, was born completely deaf, but she plans to show off her "superpower" on the ITV2 show when it kicks off next Monday June 6 at 9pm.
Tasha also praised Rose, who triumphed on Strictly Come Dancing alongside Giovanni Pernice, for her incredible dancing skills and routines. One was particularly moving, where she danced to silence for 10 seconds to raise awareness of the deaf community.
Ahead of her stint in the villa, Tasha has heaped praise on her pal.
Speaking to The Mirror and other press, she said: "I love Strictly and being a dancer myself, it's the most danciest show out there.
"Rose is a big role model for me as well and it's so powerful what she did. She represented me and the rest of the deaf community and herself. Her dance was awesome and it was a beautiful message and representing the community which is awesome."
And Tasha is hopeful her own stint in the villa will help to inspire other young people.
"It is crazy that I'm even going in. I hope this really inspires young people to put themselves out there no matter what superpower you've got. I call it my superpower, I don't call it my disability," she said.
"It's something unique and special about me and I really hope it shows a lot of people, it shouldn't define you. It's just something that you have. We're all human. I'm not a robot just because I've got something on my ear. It's something that's cool and edgy about me."
Tasha was born completely deaf, and had her cochlear implant put in when she was five-years-old.
She shared: "I was born completely deaf and my parents found at 12 months old. Then I got my cochlear implant when I was 5, which is quite late on. I had hearing aids until I was 5 but they didn't help much. The surgery to have the cochlear implant took seven to eight hours. Growing up, I have come across a lot of obstacles. I had speech therapy, but those obstacles made me who I am."
*Love Island starts at 9pm Monday 6th June on ITV2 and ITV Hub. Episodes are available the following morning on BritBox.
