Rose Ayling-Ellis looks worlds away from Strictly as she films first role since EastEnders on set in Hertfordshire
STRICTLY Come Dancing champion Rose Ayling-Ellis looks unrecognisable while she films for new ITV drama.
Rose, 29, is set to star in six-part ITV police drama Code of Silence.
She plays a deaf catering worker who becomes a heroine by lip-reading criminals’ conversations to help to put them behind bars.
Rose was spotted filming in St Albans on Friday, with camera crews taking over the Fade to Black Coffee shop in The Quadrant.
ITV’s synopsis of the show reads: “Code of Silence introduces us to Deaf catering worker, Alison Woods.
“She’s struggling to make ends meet, juggling two jobs, in a police canteen and a local bar, while also doing her best to support her Deaf mum, Julie.
“When DC Ashleigh Francis calls on Alison to lip read the conversations of some dangerous criminals, she is plunged into a new and exhilarating world.”
Rose was seen in casual attire wearing a green fleece hooded jacket and a grey oversized t-shirt dress.
Her hair has transformed as she has ditched her long locks for a short bob style with bangs.
The actress played Frankie Lewis in EastEnders, before becoming the first deaf contestant to compete on Strictly Come Dancing, winning the 2021 series of the show.
She’s also appeared on Casualty and was the first deaf presenter of a live sports event, hosting part of Channel 4‘s Paralympic coverage earlier this month.
She was awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours for ‘voluntary services to the deaf community.’
Throughout the competition, Rose formed a close connection with her Strictly professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice, who confessed that she would “always have a piece of his heart” after their victorious final.
However, Rose has recently confessed to initially hating one of the most landmark moments of her time on the show.
Dancing to Clean Bandit track Symphony, the pair honoured the deaf community with the 30-second segment in their routine which completely cut the music.
The dance proved so impactful and moving it was celebrated the next year at the Baftas, winning them the audience-voted ‘moment of the year’.
Strictly's full scandal so far
Strictly Come Dancing's scandal has been growing over the past few months, with several major players speaking out about what went on. Here are the key moments of what's happened so far
16th May: Giovanni Pernice sensationally quits Strictly Come Dancing after nine years on the show.
17th May: Giovanni becomes the centre of an official investigation after three former partners – believed to be Amanda Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh – make complaints to the BBC.
16th June: Giovanni releases an official statement vowing to clear his name and denies any wrongdoing.
8th July: Strictly confirms Aljaz Skorjanec will return to the series, replacing Giovanni, after initially quitting the show two years ago.
10th July: Amanda Abbington launches fresh legal proceedings to get the rehearsal footage from her time with Giovanni, after allegedly he refused to release the videos.
13th July: Graziano Di Prima is axed from Strictly for “gross misconduct” after footage of his treatment of Zara McDermott is brought to the attention of the BBC.
Graziano quickly broke his silence, apologising for his behaviour in a statement and saying he “deeply regrets it”, adding his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected his training regime.”
15th July: Strictly bosses implement new duty of care protocols, including having a chaperone present throughout all rehearsals.
16th July: Zara McDermott speaks out publicly for first time. She states while the production team were “amazing to work with”, she found the rehearsal room “completely different”, confirming there’s footage of “certain situations”.
19th July: Anton Du Beke is put under the spotlight for his “1970s attitude” and treatment of female celeb stars, particularly after allegedly referring to 2009 partner Laila Rouass as a “p***” after getting a spray tan.
21st July: Paralympian Will Bayley, who has limb condition arthrogryposis, revealed he was encouraged to leap from a table during a dance routine, despite fears. The stunt caused an injury that forced him to withdraw from the show.
22nd July: MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace admits he broke down in tears and got a nasty stress rash on his face during his time on Strictly in 2014.
22nd July: Despite ongoing issues, the Strictly professional cast begin rehearsals for this year’s series.
23rd July: Celebrity agent Melanie Blake claims she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed pro dancer while backstage on the show, and claims she witnessed ageism, rudeness and a rough treatment to the point of injury.
23rd July: Strictly is forced to beef up security after ‘an intruder scales the wall of the rehearsal studio’.
23rd July: BBC boss Tim Davie breaks his silence on the ongoing allegations against Strictly, saying he is ‘deeply sorry’, adding: “Hundreds of people, be they pros, contestants or crew have been part of it and had a brilliant experience.
“At the same time if someone thinks there was something wrong or they want to talk about their experience then of course we want them to raise that with us. Be in no doubt we will take it seriously, listen and deal with it as appropriate.”
24th July: Strictly 2023 star Krishnan Guru-Murthy holds a bombshell interview with Amanda Abbington on Channel 4 news, where she claims she was bullied, with some of the ‘humilation being of a sexual nature’.
27th July: Laura Whitmore releases a statement regarding her Strictly experience, saying “I thought my experience was specific to me but I’ve since learned I was wrong”.
She adds she is not part of the official complaint, but has come forward to support Amanda with the BBC, alongside others.
28th July: Laila Rouass speaks out against the accusations regarding Anton Du Beke, saying she “never felt pressured” by him and “personally insisted on six to seven hours training a day”.
10th August: Graziano breaks his silence on his Strictly axe, saying “these vile, false allegations have ruined my life.”
He also told of the “shocking” end to his friendship with Zara McDermott.
We also revealed that Amanda Abbington was also quizzed for a second time as Strictly execs recruited 15 new staff to monitor rehearsals.
11th August: Just as the investigation was expected to conclude, Amanda made a dramatic intervention. Giovanni was on the brink of being cleared until Amanda handed in more text messages.
24th August: Graziano Di Prima called in top lawyers to sue the BBC and to try to clear his name. He recruited big hitters Whitestone Chambers to fight his corner.
A source said: “They’ve also looked at his BBC contract and believe there are grounds to sue.”
Meanwhile, the BBC also delayed releasing the findings of the probe into Giovanni Pernice. The Sun revealed that the results of the three-month investigation were unlikely to be announced in August.
But nearly three years on, Rose has now admitted she was dead against the idea when she was first approached with it, believing it would appear like a cheap grab for sympathy.
Speaking to The Guardian, the actress said: “I hated it. I watched this prerecorded 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.”
“It was what hearing people think deaf people experience,” she added. “Very insular, cut-off, small. It was so sad. And that’s not me.”
Instead, she fought for the routine to become something more “energetic, vibrant, and full of life”, with the result being Symphony.
According to Rose, she realised with the amount of effort going into the routine by people on the show that it would be considered a “big deal”.
It’s now largely perceived as one of the most defining performances of the show’s entire 20-year history.
Taking home the glitterball at the end of the series, Rose’s impact has continued to raise awareness for the deaf community.
As well as appearing on documentaries, Rose has become an advocate for better education of British Sign Language (BSL).
She also inspired her pro partner Giovanni to incorporate sign language interpreters into his live shows away from Strictly when he toured across the country.
Giovanni left the show this year after nine years following an official complaint made against him by his 2023 partner, Amanda Abbington.
Amanda accused the dancer of ‘bullying’ behaviour that became ‘disastrously unworkable’ in the five weeks she trained with him before quitting the show.
The BBC have since launched a probe about his training room conduct, though Rose has never spoken out publicly about the allegations against him.
Ahead of the results of the investigation are revealed, Giovanni announced this weekend he will now be joining the Italian version of the series instead as he moves on from the claims.