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’.
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.
