Paralympian Ellie Simmonds has opened up about the support she received after her waltz on Strictly Come Dancing, saying the comments made her "emotional".
Appearing on tonight's (October 7) episode of It Takes Two alongside her dance partner Nikita Kuzmin, gold medalist Ellie was asked by host Rylan Clark how she was feeling after the routine.
"Everyone I've spoken to was emotional after that," Rylan said, adding that he too had felt tearful after watching the performance.
"We shed a tear, it meant everything to us," Ellie replied. "It was a dance not just for me and you, but for everyone watching, for the disability community, dwarfism community. The emotion showed."
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"It was felt," Rylan added, praising the swimmer for taking the lead in the dance.
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Pro-dancer Nikita added that he too was left feeling emotional after the dance. "The special thing about it was just the moment," he said.
"It just felt like we were doing something that's bigger than us."
Rylan pointed out how the waltz clearly struck a chord with viewers at home too and asked Ellie about the public's response.
"It means the absolute world," she replied. "The messages... and seeing people on the streets as well."
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Ellie previously opened up about her fears over the height difference between her and Nikita, praising the show for its inclusivity.
In an interview with Digital Spy, she discussed the "unknown" logistics of dancing with dwarfism on the show.
"Me and Nikita were saying like, 'how are we going to work it?' And we're both in the unknown," she said.
"In the dwarfism community, I've had so many different people reaching out not just in the UK here but worldwide being like, 'wow, Ellie you're doing this, you're gonna help us and represent us' and like, that's a huge, huge honour. Yes swimming I was able to do that but something like this is just a whole new ballgame."
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One, while spin-off show Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows also stream on BBC iPlayer.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Brenna Cooper is a freelance journalist, who currently specialises in entertainment reporting. She joined Digital Spy in 2022, writing TV and movies stories for the site. After graduating with an NCTJ accredited Journalism Masters from the University of Sheffield in 2020 she has since embarked on a freelance career.
Brenna previously produced lifestyle content for Checklists.co.uk and has a specific interest in music, reviewing live acts and interviewing bands such as Confidence Man and Amyl and the Sniffers.
