Actress Rose Ayling-Ellis has said “it is really exciting” to be the first deaf person to host a live sports show, presenting the Paralympic Games in France for Channel 4. The Strictly Come Dancing winner and former EastEnders star will host Afternoon Live alongside broadcaster Clare Balding from inside the Athletes’ Village with live BSL (British Sign Language) signing. The opening and closing ceremonies will be presented by broadcaster Ade Adepitan and five-time Paralympic swimming champion and Bafta-winner Ellie Simmonds, along with Balding.
Former rugby union player Ed Jackson, racing car driver turned pundit Billy Monger, BBC Radio 1 presenter Vick Hope, and comedian Josh Pugh will also be part of Channel 4’s coverage of the Paris Paralympic Games. Ayling-Ellis has completed a string of firsts, including making history on Strictly as the first deaf contestant, and reading a CBeebies bedtime story in sign language. Ellie Simmonds will be among the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games presenting team (Lucy North/PA) “It breaks people’s barriers of understanding what we are capable of.
Really, though, we shouldn’t be trying to prove this to people.” She added: “It is really exciting that I am the first deaf person to host a live sports TV show. “People seem to think that hosting a show is also to do with hearing, but now I’m here to prove that doesn’t have to be.
” The 29-year-old also said she has had “lots of training” before taking on her first hostin.