Strictly's Rose Ayling-Ellis on how Giovanni adjusted to her deafness
The EastEnders actress made history on the show as the first deaf contestant.
EastEnders star Rose Ayling-Ellis has praised her Strictly Come Dancing professional dance partner ahead of the Strictly final this weekend.
Speaking to press including RadioTimes.com, Rose, who is deaf, revealed how Giovanni Pernice has adjusted to her disability.
She explained: "He meets me halfway, so he's literally come to my world and respects who I am and the way I learn things, and adjusted to teaching around that. It's worked so well because sometimes when things don't, he's like, 'OK, that didn't work. Let's try to make it work.' And I think that's been fantastic!"
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This weekend, the duo will perform two Strictly Come Dancing songs and dances, one of which will be their Couple’s Choice to Symphony by Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson, which they performed back in Week Eight.
During the performance, Rose paid tribute to the deaf community with a silent moment in the dance sequence, earning her an impressive 39 points on the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard.
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"I think for us it was such a big moment, so it'd be weird for us not to do it again," Giovanni explained.
"Obviously the silent moment was so powerful and because this got so much attention, Rose kept saying that the dance changed her life and lots of people's lives so it's just fair to do it again."
Speaking of their Showdance for the Strictly Come Dancing 2021 final, he added: "It's a celebration of me and Rose and our relationship together. In a sense of we found this beautiful friendship and that's what we want to celebrate on Saturday night!"
The Strictly Come Dancing final is on BBC One on Saturday 18th December. Want something else to watch? Check out our full TV Guide or visit our Entertainment hub for the latest news.
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