Rose Ayling-Ellis wowed fans on Strictly Come Dancing when she won the competition with her stunning dance routines. Even more impressively Rose was the first deaf contestant to ever take part in the series and this is something she raised awareness of while on the show.
Now Rose is performing in a West End production of As You Like It and has explained one man's "entitled rant" when he shouted out abuse from the crowd. Every performance of As You Like It has screens showing British Sign Language via screens visible on all four sides of the Soho Place theatre, making it accessible to the whole audience.
Posting to Instagram Rose explained the abuse she received. She said: "During the matinee yesterday, an angry man in the audience interrupted the show with an entitled rant screaming that we were "discriminating against hearing people!". He was looking at me directly. It was shocking."
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As well as explaining the abuse, Rose sent a powerful message about why accessible theatre is so important. She said: "Deaf members of the audience are able to sit wherever they want and whenever they want. Hearing people reading the captions, laughing and reacting to our signing on stage, coming into our world and understanding Shakespeare because of this. Two days ago, we had a BSL performance show, and 106 deaf people turn up. This is why we do accessible theatre."
Many of Rose's celebrity friends commented on the post, offering her words of support. TV presenter AJ Odudu said: "Incredible Rose. More power to ya" while Dan Walker, who appeared on the same series of Strictly Come Dancing as Rose, said of the man: "What a numptie."
Rhys Stephenson, another Strictly co-star, said: "The fragile egos of some men is beyond embarrassing. Keep doing you Rose!" You can keep up to date with the latest TV and showbiz news by signing up to the newsletter here.
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