We are so excited to see what Rose Ayling-Ellis and her celebrity partner Giovanni Pernice have in store for us this weekend on Strictly Come Dancing.
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The couple have been wowing judges and viewers alike over the last few months and are even tipped to take home as contenders for this year's final. But how much do you know about Rose's life away from the dancefloor? Find out all about her family here...
WATCH: Rose Ayling-Ellis enjoys birthday night out with Giovanni Pernice
The actress - who celebrated her 27th birthday this week - grew up in the coastal market town of Hythe in Kent with her parents and brother. Not much is known about Rose's family, as she prefers to keep them out of the spotlight.
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However, it was with her parent's encouragement that Rose discovered her passion for acting as a teenager. After taking part in an event run by National Deaf Children's Society, she met deaf film director Ted Evans, who later cast her in his award-winning short film The End. Roles in Casualty, The Quiet Ones and Summer of Rockets, which also starred Keeley Hawes and Timothy Spall, followed and in 2020 she was cast as the first deaf actress to play a deaf character on EastEnders.
In spite of her growing fame, Rose and her family remain extremely close. Earlier this year, she wowed fans when she shared a rare photo of her lookalike mum to Instagram to mark Mother's Day. Alongside the sweet throwback, which showed Rose as an infant on her mother's lap, she wrote: "All that I am is because of my mum. Happy Mother's Day!" followed by two heart emojis.
"You are so like your mummy, beautiful," one follower wrote in the comment section. Another echoed this, adding: "You look exactly like your mum!" and third said: "Lovely pic."
Rose has made history as the first deaf contestant to compete on the BBC show since it launched in 2004 and recently opened up about her family's emotional reaction to seeing her take to the dancefloor.
Rose has made history as the first deaf contestant on Strictly
Speaking to HELLO! last month, she said: "My mum has told me it makes her really emotional when she hears how the parents of deaf children have been moved and inspired by what I'm doing because she had never even met a deaf person when she had me and she had so much fear. She's very proud of me."
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It's believed that Rose has been living with her long-term boyfriend Sam for some time. The couple have been dating since 2014, and back in July, they celebrated seven happy years together.
Like Rose, Sam is also deaf, and the pair tend to keep their relationship out of the spotlight. However, over on Instagram, where Rose boasts an incredible 152,000 followers, the Strictly star has shared several sweet snaps of the two of them during their many travels.
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