LIVE BLOG: ‘Deaf Night’ on BBC One as Rose Ayling-Ellis takes on Strictly and Gabriella Leon exits Casualty

Posted on September 18, 2021 by


Left, Rose, a blonde white woman in front of shining blue light. Right, Gabriella Leon, a white woman in a nurse's uniform, looking up to the right at somebody.

BBC One will feature back-to-back Deaf representation this evening, with EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis set to make her first appearance as a contestant on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, followed by Gabriella Leon’s last scenes as nurse Jade Lovall in Casualty.

In what The Limping Chicken is calling ‘Deaf Night’, we’ll be bringing you live updates below from both programmes as they happen – starting with Strictly at 7:45pm and then Casualty at 9pm.

Keep an eye on this page and scroll down below for commentary by writer Liam O’Dell on Strictly followed by extra commentary from editor Charlie Swinbourne on Casualty (Charlie has previously written for the programme). The most recent posts are shown first, so scroll down to the bottom of the page to start from the beginning!

Photo: BBC (left) and @BBCCasualty/Twitter (right).

22:16 – Liam O’Dell: Thanks for tuning into my live commentary this evening. Charlie is back and watching the Casualty episode now, and will be updating this page with his thoughts. Stay tuned, but from me, it’s goodnight!

Charlie Swinbourne: Thanks Liam, you’re a total star! Why was I late? This is very humdrum but I was at a family meal which I couldn’t dash away from, and so Liam carried on. That’s the kind of person he is. I’m now beginning to watch Casualty and I’ll add thoughts below at the relevant points in the programme.

22:10 – Liam O’Dell: And off Jade goes! She’s hung up the uniform to spend more time with her mum, who stood up for her when they said she would be suspended. Jade said that “every teacher I had thought I was thick”, and I think we can all relate to being made to feel like that by one teacher at some point during our education.

And her colleagues have just signed goodbye to her. Brilliant performances from Sophie Stone and Gabriella Leon – we’ll miss seeing them on our screens in this series!

Charlie Swinbourne: Lovely moment when all the regulars at the ED come out to sign to Jade! Something tells me this won’t be the last we see of Jade. I hope not, anyway. This certainly won’t be the last we see of Gaby Leon, who plays her. Can’t wait to see what Gaby will be up to next.

Nice tweet from Gaby’s co-star Sophie Stone here:

https://twitter.com/sophieLstone/status/1439348315187986449

22.05 – Charlie Swinbourne: Ouch. Jade has to translate for Marty and tell her mother that drugs were found in her locker. That’s the problem with having to translate sometimes – when it’s something you’d really rather the other person didn’t know. Then she’s told by Charlie that she’ll be suspended. Now we see Susie heroically stepping in, telling Charlie that her daughter ‘is a kind person and wouldn’t do something like that.’ Now there’s the better side of having to translate – when it’s something you want the world to hear. A lovely emotional moment between Jade and Susie follows. Jade finally knowing her mother believes in her.

22.03 – Charlie Swinbourne: Nice to see Jade encouraging Ethan to be a good parent, drawing on her own experiences of being fostered. She’s a good sort. And hopefully not a junkie.

21.59 – Charlie Swinbourne: As Jade struggles to understand what’s happening to her, we see her mother Susie, who is profoundly deaf, wondering what’s going on. This neatly shows how deaf people are easily excluded. Susie knows there’s a problem but doesn’t know what’s happening to Jade.

21:57 – Liam O’Dell: It’s always impressive when shows use sound effects to demonstrate what it’s like to be Deaf. Jade’s getting stressed and has gone outside for a breather, with her hearing aids out.

Hearing people will never experience that kind of peace in a busy world. Hopefully Jade gets to experience it more and things calm down in the hospital soon!

21:44 – Liam O’Dell: The stress of a difficult family relationship mixed with a stressful job is getting to Jade, as she’s just told a patient upset about a sandwich that’s three days out of date to “shove it up your bum, you stupid old cow”.

She’s just had a meeting to discuss the incident, and now they’ve found drugs in her locker, which she insists aren’t hers.

Charlie Swinbourne: Jade looked genuinely shocked when Dylan pulled those tablets out of her locker. Doesn’t help that saintly Casualty legend Charlie is watching on. Surely Jade hasn’t become a junkie? Say it ain’t so Jade.

21.42 – Charlie Swinbourne: Jade asks Susie whether she lost her phone number, and it becomes clear that these two haven’t been in touch much since we last saw them on screen. Jade expresses how hard it’s been, working through lockdown and losing friends to the virus. The next few lines of dialogue are signed, with Susie telling a sceptical Jade that ‘my mum needs me around so much.’ Is there any room for Jade in this family, when there’s so much co-dependency between Susie and her mother (Jade’s grandmother) Theresa?

21:39 – Liam O’Dell: Ah yes, hearing aid feedback as Jade enters the ward. No matter how long we’ve been wearing them, that screeching sound is still hard to ignore.

There’s no BSL interpreter yet, so Jade’s “working the room”, only to go to the first patient and spot her mum, with whom she has a bit of a difficult relationship. Oh dear.

Charlie Swinbourne: The last time they spoke, Jade expressed how hard it was for her growing up in foster care and we found out that Susie (Jade’s mother) was made to believe that she wasn’t capable of bringing Jade up, undermined partly by her own mother, Theresa. So there’s a lot of ground for these two to make up in this episode.

21.36 – Charlie Swinbourne: Nice touch to see Dylan signing ‘covid test’ for Jade here, since they’re all wearing masks. 

21:34 – Liam O’Dell: It’s Casualty time now, and there’s been a nasty crash on a road involving several Deaf people. Sophie Stone, who previously appeared as Jade’s mum in the drama series, is one of those injured.

Great to see that as soon as one of them started signing, the paramedics put in a request for a sign language interpreter.

Charlie Swinbourne: As Liam said, this is a very nasty crash, although we only saw the aftermath. In the pre-titles scene, the audience would have been unaware that the people in the minibus, who need that medical attention, are deaf.

CASUALTY

21.30 – Charlie Swinbourne: So this is the final episode for Jade, the deaf nurse played by deaf actor Gabriella Leon since 3rd November 2018, that’s nearly three years ago. I’ve got a special link to Jade because I co-wrote an episode last year in which Jade met her mother Susie, played by deaf actor Sophie Stone. In that story, which explored Jade having been fostered, Jade also met Theresa, her grandmother, who is hearing. I’m really excited about this episode, and I’ve also been told that there’s a total of seven deaf actors in tonight’s episode, so I can’t wait to see who they are!

21:28 – Liam O’Dell: And to finish, all the celebrities have just taken part in a group dance to BTS’ track Permission to Dance. Rose looks amazing alongside Giovanni Pernice, and has done a lift!

The show ends with the pair signing: “Start dancing!”

Strictly continues next week. Now, it’s time for Gabriella Leon in Casualty!

21:20 – Liam O’Dell: Some more behind-the-scenes info now, as Tom Fletcher is going on tour, and his partner Amy Dowden will also be going on tour.

Meanwhile, Tilly Ramsay – who was matched with Nikita Kuzmin – has the logistical nightmare of doing a university course at the same time as doing Strictly.

Her dad Gordon has been playing the Strictly theme tune in her bedroom in preparation, apparently.

And finally, Ugo Monye has been coupled up with last year’s winner, Oti Mabuse.

21:15 – Liam O’Dell: Nina Wadia will do the samba as her first dance with Neil Jones, while Amy Dowden dropped in to Tom Fletcher’s McFly rehearsals.

21:06 – Liam O’Dell: We’re onto the final four celebrities now.

There’s another EastEnders actress, Nina Wadia; McFly singer Tom Fletcher; social media star Tilly Ramsay and rugby player Ugo Monye.

21:01 – Liam O’Dell: A little technical update while we look back at last year’s winner Bill Bailey’s time on the show.

Charlie is delayed, so I’ll be carrying on into Casualty this evening. He’ll add his own thoughts and comments to the live blog later.

20:57 – Liam O’Dell: Some fun gossip from earlier now as Anne-Marie does some singing.

Apparently BBC Breakfast’s Dan Walker has set up a WhatsApp group for everyone to chat in – we’re just hoping no voice notes are being sent!

20:53 – Liam O’Dell: Comedian and Loose Woman Judi Love will dance with Graziano Di Prima.

Bake-Off winner John Whaite is in a same-sex pairing with Johannes Radebe.

20:41 – Liam O’Dell: Right, quick catch-up now on who’s been matched up with whom.

Swimmer Adam Peaty and Katya Jones are one duo.

Presenter AJ Odudu is teaming up with Kai Widdrington.

Sense and Sensibility actor Greg Wise will dance with Karen Hauer.

20:26 – Liam O’Dell: After it was revealed that BBC Breakfast’s Dan Walker will dance with Nadiya Bychkova, it’s onto Rose!

She was filmed in East London (of course), and says EastEnders was life-changing, and Strictly is “life-changing as well”.

And her dancer this year is… Giovanni Pernice!

Rose says she’s “really, really happy” with the match-up, and Giovanni says “she really is a sweetheart”. He’s already showing off his signing skills by explaining how to sign “again, from the top, with music” – and Rose is “impressed”.

She says they “will make a good team”, and is open to being taught in a different way.

Claudia has also been showing off her signing skills, and Rose’s interpreter has been highlighted twice now, which is great to see for the visibility. Winkleman asks her how she experiences the music.

Rose replies that “every deaf [person] experiences music differently” and that she will likely “rely on beat and counting”.

As for the dance… it’s the jive! She says she’s “terrified, but happy”.

20:19 – Liam O’Dell: More celebrities are being introduced now, and here she is! Rose introduces herself as an actress best known for playing Frankie in EastEnders.

She says the response from the Deaf community to the news that she’d be a contestant on Strictly was “my proudest moment”. She adds that “people think that deaf people hear nothing” and that “that’s not true”.

“Fighting talk,” she goes on to say, “I’m going to do my best!”

“I can’t do fighting talk,” she laughs.

20:14 – Liam O’Dell: Dragon’s Den businesswoman Sara Davies will be putting professional dancer Aljaz Skorjanec through his paces, or should that be the other way around?

20:09 – Liam O’Dell: CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson is Nancy Xu’s first Strictly dance partner. She says she’ll be a “very strict” instructor, but adds that “we’re going to have a fun time”.

20:06 – Liam O’Dell: Former Corrie star Katie McGlynn has been paired with Gorka Marquez.

20:02 – Liam O’Dell: One-by-one, we’re finding out who’s getting paired up with who, and comedian Robert Webb has been matched up with red-haired professional Dianne Buswell.

19:54 – Liam O’Dell: We’re being introduced to the celebs now, and Rose Ayling-Ellis has walked on in a stunning golden dress. She’ll be competing alongside names such as Nina Wadia (a fellow EastEnders actress), Gordon Ramsay’s daughter Tilly and BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker.

19:51 – Liam O’Dell: We’re live, and into the formalities now, as Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman introduce the judges. We’ve just had the professional dancers perform an opening routine, and our hosts have confirmed that we’ll find out who each celebrity will be paired up with.

Exciting news has also been confirmed, as all contestants will be performing a group dance later on in the show.

19:46 – Liam O’Dell: If you missed it, you can read my report on the announcement that Rose is taking part in this year’s series of Strictly right here on The Limping Chicken.

Commenting on her taking part in the show, Rose said: “I hope I will do the deaf community proud and break down more barriers. But I am also very excited to learn an incredible new skill and even better I get to learn whilst wearing beautiful dresses made especially for me!”

STRICTLY COME DANCING 2021

19:37 – Liam O’Dell: Good evening and welcome to our live commentary on what’s set to be an exciting night for Deaf representation on BBC One, starting off with Rose Ayling-Ellis making her first appearance as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Tonight’s pre-recorded launch episode will see us find out who Rose’s professional dance partner is for the rest of the competition, and who will hopefully help her win the trophy at the end of the series.

The show kicks off at 7:45pm, but before then, I’ll be providing you with some further commentary and insights into Rose’s involvement in Strictly, and why she decided to take part.

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