Rose Ayling-Ellis is continuing to break barriers as she urges government officials to give sign language a legal status in England.
MORE: Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice's partnership sparks tour to make this big change
Her recent win on Strictly Come Dancing with dance partner Giovanni Pernice has gone down in history, highlighting the needs and awareness for the deaf community.
WATCH: Rose Ayling-Ellis reveals family hardship after Strictly win
Speaking about the positivity surrounding her profile, the EastEnders actress told The Big Issue: "I am ambitious to make a difference. I feel like there's so many barriers out there that need to be broken. And I'm quite happy to break them up! I think I'm addicted to it now."
MORE: Giovanni Pernice celebrates personal news after dinner date with Rose Ayling-Ellis
READ: Giovanni Pernice's touching gesture to Rose Ayling-Ellis after Strictly win revealed
Rose, who is the BBC show's first deaf contestant to take part and go on to win, is giving her backing to a private members' bill in parliament which is seeking to make British Sign Language (BSL) an official language in the country.
Discussing the lack of respect shown to the deaf community, the 27-year-old explained: "I'm backing it because this is my language. The fact that my country doesn't see it that way is really sad and means we don't get the respect we deserve and the language deserves.
© Photo: BBCRose and Giovanni's win on Strictly has gone down in history
"BSL is not an official language, legally, in this country. Which is outrageous. Because it is such a beautiful, rich language with its own structure, its own grammar, its own slang. It's even got accents."
READ: Strictly's Giovanni Pernice hails Rose Ayling-Ellis partnership as his 'best one yet'
She added: "If it becomes an official language, which we've been fighting for all these years, it will be so emotional for us. Because of the massive interest in BSL recently, a lot of people don't realise how much of a fight the deaf community have had."
The star's presence on Strictly has gone a long way to highlight the deaf community and their needs. It has since been revealed that the nationwide tour - which kicks off next month - will have a registered British Sign Language interpreter for every performance, making this the "biggest ever BSL accessible arena tour" in the UK.
© Photo: BBCThe pair are preparing for the nationwide tour
Last year, Rose touched upon her "difficult" education, something that her mother Donna had been fighting to make more accessible. "I think it's because we went through a lot," she explained on BBC Breakfast. "Aww I'm getting emotional now. Because at primary school, at nursery school – it goes way, way back, where my education was difficult.
"My mum had to fight a lot to make it accessible for my education, right from the start so I had that right from the beginning of everything I do [she was] constantly fighting, constantly battled to get what I needed."
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
