• Strictly’s Rose and Giovanni’s silent dance to ‘Symphony’ is chosen by the British public as Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment
  • Virgin Media’s Must-See Momentis the only publicly voted for award at the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards 2022
  • Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice accepted the award at the Virgin Media BAFTA TV Awards, stating “It’s a very special moment for us and hopefully it’s shown how powerful TV can be, where actually it can influence and change things.”
  • Rochelle Humes and Clara Amfo announced the winner in British Sign Language
  • The biggest moment of the TV BAFTAs was when the whole audience joined in applauding in sign language

 

LONDON, 8th May 2022: Rose and Giovanni’s silent dance to ‘Symphony’ on BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing wins Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment award at tonight’s 2022 Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards.

The accolade, presented by Rochelle Humes and Clara Amfo, was collected by Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice.

The winning moment, from an episode of Strictly Come Dancing which had over 10 million viewers and received 2.1 million YouTube views, makes it one of the show’s most watched performances of the series.

The performance showed the power of television, driving conversation and creating awareness of the D/deaf community as well as real change with helping to pass the bill to make British Sign Language an official language this year.

Now, the British public have shown their support and backed Strictly Come Dancing, Rose, Giovanni and their message by crowning them winner of Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment.

Rose and Giovanni thanked the British public in their powerful acceptance speech.

Rose said “Thank you to every single person who has voted for us. It’s a very special moment for us and hopefully it’s shown how powerful TV can be, where actually it can influence and change things. It’s even helped with BSL and made people stand up more for British sign language. And Jjst a better deaf awareness and positive attitude towards people. We’ve still got a long way to go but it’s such a great start”

Giovanni added “When we first had the idea to put the song into the dance we knew it would have an impact but this is bigger than we thought. This is changing people’s lives. Thank you for everyone who voted for us, as it mean you’re ready for a change.”

Rose and Giovanni’s silent performance was one of the most talked about, tweeted about and watched TV moments of 2021.

Rose and Giovanni made the world stop and watch as they were invited into Rose’s world. The performance raised awareness of the experiences of the D/deaf community and created wider conversations around the lack of accessibility and representation for D/deaf people. The moment also helped to champion initiatives such as finally making British Sign Language (BSL) an officially recognised language in law. It also inspired many young D/deaf dancers to take up or reignite their passion for the performing arts.

This moment perfectly embodies what Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment award is all about –

celebrating the diversity of British TV, and the moments that get our nation talking, tweeting, laughing, and so much more

The six nominees for Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment award 2021 were:

  • Channel 4, It’s A Sin– Colin’s devastating AIDS diagnosis
  • Netflix, Squid Game – Red Light, Green Light game

 

David Bouchier, Chief TV & Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media, said:

“British television has the power to connect our nation and this winning Virgin Media Must-See Moment in Strictly Come Dancing really resonated with the British public. Its creative expression and emotion made us all stop and think about the challenges Rose had to overcome to win Strictly. 2021 was another stand-out year in television and the variety of nominees for this year’s Virgin Media Must-See Moment award celebrated TV for everyone from comedy and drama to reality and fantasy. It’s fantastic to have such a powerful message win our award, it truly was a stand-out TV moment from 2021.”

Sara Putt, BAFTA Deputy Chair and Chair of BAFTA’s Television Committee, said:

“Congratulations to Rose Ayling-Ellis, Giovanni Pernice and the Strictly Come Dancing team on their win for Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment award. Not only did they win the heart the nation, their moment has led to visible change demonstrating the power of TV. The public had a difficult choice on their hands with such a breadth of nominations, across different genres of television that kept the nation captivated. As always it’s a brilliant way to make sure audiences at home are even closer to the action and are a part of the excitement that is the Virgin Media TV BAFTAs.” 

 

ENDS 

#VirginMediaBAFTAs #MustSeeMoment

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