Rose wins Strictly Come Dancing 2021: What you didn't know about her and the other contestants

The pair returned with the astonishing 'Symphony' by Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson, to grab the title on Saturday evening. In total, they performed three dances and beat the competition to make Strictly Come Dancing history - with Rose becoming not only the first deaf contestant, but also the winner of the series.

Rose said to her partner as their names were called to take the trophy: "I just want to say you are so amazing, you pushed me to believe in myself more than I believe in myself. You are an incredible teacher, not just that but a wonderful friend and we’ve gone through a lot and I just want you to know you’ve always got a piece of my heart."

In a 'Strictly Come Dancing' first, Rose Ayling-Ellis and dance partner, Giovanni Pernice, had previously shown how the deaf experience the world. They performed a dance to Clean Bandit/Zara Larsson's 'Symphony' but the middle of the song had quite a twist, that many viewers across the country have praised the dancers (and the show) for sharing.

Photo: BBC

In that show a few weeks previous, halfway through the song, the music suddenly stopped. The couple continued dancing in complete silence, giving the world an insight into the experience for deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, who has shown her full potential on the dance floor throughout this series. They received a standing ovation and sign language congratulations from the judges.

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Motsi Mabuse put aside the notes she had made and instead spoke from the heart, "In this case, I honestly feel like saying thank you, because this was such a beautiful moment to include us in your world, and for us to actually understand how important and how aware we all could be of each other […] Sometimes it's more than scores, sometimes it's just the moment."
Shirley Ballas exclaimed, "This is a number that will be etched in my heart for a long long time," whilst Anton Du Beke was struggling to fight back tears.

Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daley returned to host one of Britain's favourite TV shows. Despite the news that the Sunday shows aren't exactly 'live', which caused some controversy, the show continues to pull in hundreds of thousands of viewers.

At the beginning of the season, it was revealed that parts of the Sunday show are filmed directly after the Saturday live show. In fact, the BBC have never said that the Sunday night show was live, although the judges change their outfits in order to disguise the fact that the filming is done on the same night. #STRICTLY took off, and not in a good way. The remaining contestants battle it out every Saturday to remain in the competition after an already controversial first few weeks of the show.

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Perhaps what many had looked forward to in the run up to the season is seeing veteran, the King of Ballroom, Anton Du Beke join the judging panel alongside Craig Revel Horwood (who is now in his 19th year of judging the contestants), Motsi Mabuse and head judge, Latin dancer Shirley Ballas. The contestants this year have made a fascinating group of competitors including an Olympian, a chef, an England rugby player and a bag of actors and presenters, too. Here is what you didn't know about the contestants...

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Nina Wadia, rr rather Nina Wadia OBE, is the second EastEnders star to join the 2021 line-up. The actress has lived in Bumbai, Hong Kong and finally settled in the UK. She told interviewers that she is happy ‘dancing like no one is watching’ but was scared to be appearing on the show. The fear got the better of her and she was the first contestant to leave the show.

Goodness Gracious Me! Nina was part of the original line up in the comedy sketch show.

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The lead singer of McFly joined this talent show the year after his wife won ‘I’m a Celebrity’ in 2020. Famously posting cute photos and videos of his family life on social networks, the singer is excited about joining the cast, with added pressure that his band mate, Harry Judd, won the competition back in 2011. He said, “My kids were excited too until I started showing them my best dad-dancing in the kitchen.” Can’t wait.

Photo: @tomfletcher/Instagram

Tom has written many children’s fantasy books, along with his band mate, Douggie. They have become pretty successful and, in fact, his books have already been translated into 33 different languages.

Photo: @tomfletcher/Instagram

The actress, famous for her role in EastEnders as Mick Carter’s (Danny Dyer) daughter and has made history, being the first deaf contestant to take part in the show. She said in the lead-up, “I hope I will do the deaf community proud and break down more barriers.” She’s also looking forward to one of the main attractions of the show - the costumes.

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The actress has been with her boyfriend since they were 18 years old. Rose and Samuel, who is also deaf, have been dating for seven years.

Photo: @rose.a.e/Instagram

This half of Mitchell and Webb comedy duo is simply hoping to avoid injury during his appearance on the show. Robert Webb underwent heart surgery last year so his extremely physical return to the screen could be a challenge for the comedian, despite turning his life around after the hospital trip. Giving up the booze after the health scare, he had said, “this is what you feel like at 47 and you treat your body like a skip.” Hopefully he makes it through the show without any issue.

Photo: Channel 4/Peep Show

Robert Webb has danced before! Although it was in a slightly less professional (but more ethical!) manner as he did a rendition of ‘Flashdance’ for ‘Let’s Dance for the Charity Comic Relief’ in 2009.

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Or rather, Sara Davies MBE, started her own business whilst still at university and, when she left, it was already turning over 500,000. A few years ago, the bespoke envelope manufacturer for handmade cards was said to be worth around 25 million. She joined 'Dragons' Den' as the youngest ever investor and is an interesting addition to this year’s line-up.

Photo: @SaraDaviesCC/Twitter

Ms Davies has an estimated wealth of 37 million which she shares with her childhood sweetheart, whom she met when she was 15.

Photo: @SaraDaviesCC/Twitter

28 year-old Rhys Stephenson from London is a favourite bubbly CCBC presenter. He is an incredibly kind hearted individual with a desire to help animals and children and is an Ambassador for children’s mental health charity, Place2Be.

Photo: @RhysStephenson/Twitter

Although the presenter started his career by joining the National Youth Theatre, he has a rather broad skill set. Stephenson has a degree from the University of Westminster in Human and Medical Science.

Photo: @rocketrhys/Instagram

BBC Breakfast’s Dan Walker has been excited about learning to dance. The football fan who started broadcasting on the radio for UEFA Champions League matches, then went on to present 'Football Focus' for many years.

Photo: @mrdanwalker/Twitter

Dan Walker LOVES golf. Here is is playing with Piers Morgan recently. In fact, Walker is pals with retired head judge, Len Goodman and only weeks before the show aired, they were out on the golf course together. Len said in an interview with Suzanna Reid (Dan’s ITV counterpart), “I played golf the other week with Dan Walker. He’s up for it, I tell you.” Reid couldn’t resist taking a dig at her rival saying that he ‘pretends to be a nice guy.’ Meow.

Photo: @mrdanwalker/Twitter

'Hollyoaks' and 'Coronation Street' star, Katie, is used to playing quite serious roles in her professional career, so when the opportunity for Strictly came up, she was thrilled to ‘let her hair down.’ She has also hinted she always wanted to be a dancer so many have expected this actress to be particularly competitive.

Photo: @katiexmcglynn/Instagram

She has three older brothers and they’re triplets! The family is very close and the actress shares many photos on social media with them. She’s also a quite skilled boxer.

@katiexmcglynn/Instagram

Gordon Ramsay’s daughter, more recently seen in the hilarious videos she posts on Tiktik and Instagram with her father, has done a pretty good job of rising to fame in the same footsteps as her father. Her CBBC food show, ‘Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch’, has done exceedingly well and the young celebrity has even released a cookbook called ‘Tilly’s Kitchen Takeover’

Her father, Gordon Ramsay, had sent her a video message of support saying, “Hey Tils. It’s your dad, TikTok coach, dance extraordinaire. Wishing you all the best. We are proud of you, girl. Love you.” To which her mother responded, “Thank goodness it’s her instead of you”, alongside a warning not to date any of the dancers…

'Big Brother’s Bit on the Side' presenter, AJ, has done a number of competitive TV shows, especially in the past year. She has appeared in 'The Chase: Celebrity Special,' 'Bake Off: An Extra Slice,' 'Richard Osman's House of Games' and 'Don't Rock The Boat.' She has also starred in the fourth series of 'Celebrity First Dates Hotel' and 'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins in 2019.' No stranger to the pressure.

Photo: @ajodudu/Instagram

AJ regularly DJ's around London and has even took the stage at Ibiza Rocks.

Photo: @ajodudu/Instagram

The TV Chef who won the third series of 'Great British Bake-off' will form one half of Strictly first ever all-male duo. He said he was most excited about performing ‘spectacular lifts’ in this series of the show.

Despite his love for preparing food, the chef had a secret battle with bulimia, an illness which began in his teenage years. He has only come to terms with the disorder in the last two years.

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AKA Lord Mountbatten. ‘The Crown’ actor who married Emma Thompson is joining the show for his sister who died 5 years ago and was a ‘huge disco queen’. The actor can cook, too, and won the 'Celebrity Great British Bake-off' competition in 2019 in aid of 'Stand up to Cancer.'

Photo: The Crown/Netflix

The British couple have been together for many years and have a daughter together. They have also informally adopted Rwandan orphan and previous child soldier, Tindyebwa Agaba.

Photo: Getty Images

No stranger to hard, physical work, Adam is a renowned Olympic swimmer who broke two world records in a single day. The incredible athlete has 15 gold medals and is another competitive addition to the line-up.

Photo: @TeamGB/Twitter

The athlete eats a staggering 8,000 calories on a daily basis.

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The stand-up comedian has appeared on many TV shows over the years including '8 Out of 10 Cats Doe Countdown,' 'Celebrity Juice' and 'Loose Women.' From East London, this talented comedian has a masters degree in social work.

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Although Love keeps most of her private life to herself, it is said she has an estimated net worth of 6 million.

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The ex-England rugby player made 241 appearances for the Harlequins, before he had the chance to show his daughters what a talented man he was. For this reason, the athlete was beyond excited to treat them both to his talents on the dance floor, stating he has ‘more than just dad dancing moves.’

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If he could have a superpower, he would be invisible. Oh, and he loves playing the Tiger Woods golfing video game.

Photo: Getty Images