Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis has revealed she ‘hated’ an emotional moment with Giovanni Pernice on the show.

The EastEnders star, 29, brought viewers to tears in 2021 when she and her professional dance partner Giovanni, 34, performed part of their dance routine in silence.

Rose, who is a British Sign Language (BSL) user, and the Italian star danced to Clean Bandit’s track Symphony as a way of honouring the deaf community.

As part of their contemporary routine, they danced for a 30-second segment completely without music.

The dance proved so moving it was celebrated at the BAFTAs with an award for ‘moment of the year’.

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Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, 29,  has revealed she ‘hated’ an emotional moment with Giovanni Pernice, 34,  in a new interview

Rose, who is a British Sign Language (BSL) user, and the Italian star danced to Clean Bandit’s track Symphony as a way of honouring the deaf community

But almost three years on, Rose has admitted in an interview with The Guardian that she was against the idea when it was first suggested.

She explained that she felt it was she was a cheap grab for sympathy and she didn’t want it to be perceived as tokenistic.

Speaking to The Guardian, the actress said: ‘I hated it. I watched this pre-recorded video by external choreographers and immediately didn’t like what they’d come up with.

‘I was up for the idea, as long as it wasn’t a patronising stunt.’

She added that she felt it was a skewed perception of what deaf people experienced, explaining: ‘It was what hearing people think deaf people experience,’

‘Very insular, cut-off, small. It was so sad. And that’s not me.’

Instead, she thought the the routine should be ‘energetic, vibrant, and full of life’, and the pair decided to dance to the track Symphony.

According to Rose, she realised the moment would be considered a ‘big deal’ and she was right with many viewing the routine as one of the show’s most defining performances in it’s 20-year history.

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The EastEnders star, 29, brought viewers to tears in 2021 when she and her professional dance partner Giovanni, 34, performed part of their dance routine in silence

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According to Rose, she realised the moment would be considered a ‘big deal’ and she was right with many viewing the routine as one of the show’s most defining performances (pictured  with the winning trophy)

Rose has not spoken publicly about the claims made against Giovanni – who left Strictly this year amid a workplace misconduct probe from the BBC.

Amanda Abbington, 50, made a series of accusations about Giovanni’s teaching methods and has described his behaviour as ‘unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean’. He strongly denies all of the claims.

 In one interview, Amanda compared the dance show to ‘the trenches’ telling Channel 4 News that BBC producers had been left ‘horrified’ by clips that also allegedly exhibited ‘humiliating behaviour of a sexual nature’.

In another, where she spoke to Christine Lampard on Lorraine , she said: ‘It was inappropriate, it was mean, it was nasty, it was bullying and I put up with it for five, six weeks.

‘It started very early on and when it started to happen I would shut down because I recognised those red flags.

‘And so I would shut down and it would be difficult to get in, and that would be a self-fulfilling prophecy.’

It is expected that the probe into Giovanni will soon be completed by the BBC after several weeks of investigations.

Rose’s admission comes as Tasha Ghouri has broken her silence on the scandal.

Giovanni’s former flame Tasha gave her thoughts on Sunday ahead of her stint on the show which starts later this month.

The former Love Island star, 26, – who was born deaf – dated the now-axed pro, 34, about six months before finding fame on the ITV dating show.

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It has been a tough year for Giovanni who was let go from the show after Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington, 50, made a series of accusations about his teaching methods

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Giovanni’s ex flame Tasha Ghouri broke her silence on the Strictly Come Dancing scandal on Sunday ahead of her stint on the show which starts later this month

Tasha has now told The Sun of the scandal: ‘I wasn’t there – I’m here for my own experience on the show. So I’m focusing on myself to just really enjoy it.’

She added of her old romance with Giovanni: ‘I’ve met up with him a few times. But that was years ago. We are not in touch now, this is like ancient history. I’m so happy with Andrew, and he’s my future, so I don’t want to talk about the past.

‘It’s not my place to comment on [the allegations against Giovanni]. I’m here for my own experiences. I’m here just for me.’

Tasha also told how she has received advice from former winner of the show Rose who was also born deaf and was partnered with Giovanni.