As terms of endearment go, "true badass" may not seem the most obviously romantic.
Yet Strictly contestant Rose Ayling-Ellis’s boyfriend is clearly smitten – and he’ll be backing the EastEnders actress all the way when she swaps Walford for the dance floor next month.
Rose, who found fame as Frankie Lewis in the BBC soap, has been dating Samuel Arnold for seven years.
And the 27-year-old is on track to reach her biggest audience yet as Strictly’s first deaf contestant.
Samuel, who is also deaf, declared his love for Rose online, and said: "I still find you the most funniest, beautiful and super cool girlfriend I ever asked for.
"You are a true badass girlfriend."
This week, Rose posted a video of her and EastEnders co-star Danny Dyer practising sign language together.
She said: "His deaf awareness is top-notch. He even walks backwards with me to set, just so I can see his face."
Earlier this year, the actress told how she never saw any deaf people on television when she was growing up, "so I never thought it would be possible for me to do that."
But Rose’s TV career blossomed when she met a deaf director "by accident."
Charities hope her Strictly appearance will be an important moment for on-screen representation.
They have also called for more deaf performers to appear on TV.
