Rose Ayling-Ellis smiling and looking behind shoulder. To the right in a half circle with a pink border, Ellie Simmonds on Strictly Come Dancing
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Rose Ayling-Ellis warns Strictly fans �don�t compare me to Ellie� as she addresses backlash

Rose says she is learning lots from Ellie

Last year’s Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis hit back at an article which compared Ellie Simmonds to her.

She took to her Instagram Stories to defend the show after the article declared Strictly Come Dancing the BBC’s “latest woke box-ticking exercise”.

Ellie Simmonds and her Strictly dance partner Nikita Kuzmin
Ellie is competing on Strictly this year (Credit: BBC)
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Rose Ayling-Ellis hits back at Strictly criticism

The actress, who has been deaf since birth, defended the show on her Instagram Stories by sharing a video by former Strictly 2021 contestant John Whaite.

John was part of the first male same-sex couple last year when he was partnered with Johannes Radebe.

In the story, the 27-year-old writes: “Please have a watch of John’s story… Thank you for speaking up about this, John.

“Remember, if you think TV is too ‘woke’, you have been living your life being privileged enough not to notice this. It is a huge deal for those in the minority.”

John posted multiple videos to his story saying that the article gave him a “sleepless night” and that it had “really angered” him.

Strictly star Rose Ayling-Ellis speaking on Sky News

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