Peppa Pig's little brother George diagnosed as deaf in special emotional episode

Peppa Pig’s younger brother George will be revealed to be moderately deaf and fitted with a hearing aid in a new storyline set to tackle childhood hearing loss.

The upcoming episode, which has been developed in partnership with the National Deaf Children’s Society, will see George attend an audiology appointment, where his family discovers he has moderate hearing loss in one ear.

He is then fitted with a new hearing aid, enabling him to experience sounds in a new way.

The audiologist in the episode is voiced by Gladiators star Jodie Ounsley, who is known to fans as Fury.

Ounsley, who was born deaf and had a cochlear implant as a toddler, and is also an author and former England rugby international, said on ITV’s Good Morning Britain of the new role: "I loved Peppa Pig growing up, so I never imagined myself to actually be involved in such a storyline like this, and myself as the audiologist."

She continued: "I just think, it was really personal, because I could understand from my parents' point of view, they've been through that, so in that moment, when I was telling the parents, I just imagined I was speaking to my own parents, it's been so special to be a part of and now this is a huge journey for little George to go on."

Asked about who her role models were while growing up, she responded: "I looked up to a lot of people, I looked up to my dad, and sports people, but I never knew anyone who was deaf at that moment in time."

She added: "I came across the first deaf person at 16, which is quite bizarre, so I think for young kids to see this on TV and normalise it, especially because George has a little blue hearing aid as well, to put a positive spin on it."

Meanwhile, writing on social media following the announcement that she'd be voicing the character, Ounsley said: "My heart feels so full sharing this. I'm beyond to be part of an upcoming episode of Peppa Pig, playing an audiologist and sharing the news that little George is moderately deaf.

"This story is close to my heart. Thinking about my own journey and everything my parents went through in those early days, I can't help but feel that something like this back then could have meant so much."

She continued: "Representation truly matters, especially for little ones who are still learning to understand themselves and their place in the world.

"I am so excited to see this story help bring awareness, start conversations and hopefully encourage deaf kids to feel proud of who they are."

Peppa Pig first aired in 2004 on Channel 5 Milkshake. The show tells the story of Peppa, who lives with Daddy Pig, Mummy Pig, her little brother, George, and her little sister, Evie.

Peppa Pig is available to watch on My5, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus and Amazon Prime Video in the UK.

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