Ayling-Ellis ‘excited’ to make history as TV host
Image source, Channel 4/PA Media
Image caption,
Rose Ayling-Ellis will host a live three-hour show every day with Clare Balding
Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter
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Published
20 August 2024
Actress and former Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis says it’s "really exciting" to become the first deaf person to host live sports coverage on TV.
The EastEnders star will be one of Channel 4’s hosts of the Paralympic Games, which begin in Paris next week.
Ayling-Ellis will host a daily show, Afternoon Live, alongside Clare Balding from the Athletes’ Village, with live British Sign Language (BSL) signing.
The actress said the Paralympics was "a great opportunity to show people what us disabled people can do".
For the opening and closing ceremonies, Balding will be joined by broadcaster and former wheelchair basketball player Ade Adepitan and Paralympic swimming champion Ellie Simmonds.
Channel 4’s presenting line-up will also feature former rugby union player Ed Jackson, racing driver-turned-pundit Billy Monger, BBC Radio 1 presenter Vick Hope, and comedian Josh Pugh.
‘Breaking barriers’
Ayling-Ellis said the Paralympics "breaks people’s barriers of understanding what we are capable [...]