Janette Manrara has revealed the personal change she’s made because of Strictly Come Dancing 2021 winner Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Strictly star Janette hosts Strictly’s It Takes Two on BBC Two alongside Rylan Clark-Neal, and she’s set to host the Strictly live tour which will roam the UK between January and February.
The professional dancer, 38, praised deaf EastEnders star Rose for all the work she’s done to spread awareness for the deaf community in Britain.
It comes as Rose, who won the BBC dancing show with Giovanni Pernice, has called for sign language to be awarded official legal status in Britain.
(Image: BBC)
Speaking on Wednesday’s One Show (January 12), Janette spoke about how British Sign Language (BSL) will be included on the Strictly tour.
She also revealed that Rose has inspired her to caption her social media posts in order to be more inclusive to deaf social media users.
When asked about how sign language will feature on the tour, Janette said: “I think it’s fantastic. I think this is the wonderful thing.
“Rose really created such an awareness for the deaf community. Not just on the main show on Strictly but now even on the live tour.
(Image: BBC/Guy Levy)
“Myself, I’m trying to make sure I put captions on as much as possible with anything that I post [on social media].
She added: “That’s the beauty of the show. You take someone like Rose [who] comes in and does such a fantastic job, and now on the live tour we’re gonna have an interpreter at every single show to make sure that everyone feels included.”
It comes as Rose has called for sign language to be given legal status in Britain.
Rose detailed her battle for sign language on ITV’sThis Morning on Tuesday.
(Image: ITV)
She said: “It’s been recognised as a language, but it’s not been official. That becomes such a big problem… sign language needs to be more appreciated… It’s got such a rich history.”
Rose went on: “I have heard so many stories about deaf people going to a doctor appointment and they ask for an interpreter and they don’t refer them an interpreter…”
“So they end up needing their child to translate, or a family member. That shouldn’t be. Because it’s not an official language, we can’t do anything about it”
Rose explained that she’s enlisted the help of MP Rosie Cooper who is set to start the debate, and it has to go through three stages in parliament – having already passed the first stage.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
