Rose Ayling-Ellis to host Paralympics for Channel 4
Rose Ayling-Ellis will help front the coverage of the Paralympics this summer.
The former 'EastEnders' actress - who won the 2021 series of 'Strictly Come Dancing' with Giovanni Pernice - will lead the team for Channel 4's coverage of the competition in Paris, becoming the first deaf host, with the production team lined up to work with her able to communicate using sign language.
A source told The Sun on Sunday newspaper's Bizarre column: “It’s an exciting new move for Rose and she is really looking forward to getting stuck into the Paralympics and learning about all the sports and teams.
“Everyone on set will be able to sign language in a new move for the TV team.”
The news comes a few months after it was revealed the 29-year-old star will appear in a TV adaptation of the first 'Tuva Moodyson' novel by Will Dean, 'Dark Pines', which follows a deaf journalist attempting to solve mysterious murders in an isolated Swedish town
She said in a statement: "As soon as I read Charlotte's scripts and then dived further into Will's books, I just knew this was a role I wanted to play and a world I wanted to explore."
The series, which is being helmed by the studio behind 'Death in Paradise', Red Planet Pictures, will also see her act as an executive producer alongside Belinda Campbell, Caroline Skinner and the show's writer, Charlotte Jones.
As well as 'Dine Pines', Rose previously revealed she was working on a comedy-drama that centred around the London dating life of a deaf women.
She told Deadline: "This is something that hasn't been spoken about. We hear a lot about being female and how women appear in the dating scene but as a deaf woman, it's a very different experience. It will be nice to share that story."
The TV star is also set to supervise a disabled writers' room for the project, but has insisted that she will not be the sole writer, as she is currently "engaging with some exciting writers" to ensure the show stays as relatable and honest as possible.
She continued: "There are so many different people in the show and I can't speak on behalf of their experiences so I wanted a team that could put it all together. I won't exactly be going to the countryside to spend months writing this."