Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice’s silent Strictly Come Dancing routine picked up the Virgin Media’s Must-See Moment award at the BAFTA TV Awards this weekend.
The pair collected the award at the 2022 Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards on Sunday night.
The accolade, presented by Rochelle Humes and Clara Amfo, was given out live on BBC One after being voted for by the public.
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 just 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.”
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, commented: “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.”
The other nominees in the category were: Adele reunites with her old teacher on An Audience With Adele; Colin’s devastating AIDS diagnosis in It’s A Sin; Squid Game’s Red Light, Green Light game and UK Hun? – Bimini’s verse on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
You can see a full list of the 2022 BAFTA TV Award winners here including Coronation Street, Ant & Dec, Big Zuu, Gogglebox and Jodie Comer.
