The fallout from the EastEnders' big boat disaster will be felt for a long time to come, especially for Ben Mitchell.
Following last week’s dramatic events, which took place on a boat during the soap’s 35th anniversary viewers saw Ben, who is already hard of hearing and wearing hearing aids, unable to understand what Keanu Taylor was saying due to an injury.
EastEnders has now confirmed that Ben’s hearing loss will be the focus point of a new storyline which the show has developed in close conjunction with the National Deaf Children’s Society.
As part of the storyline Walford is set to welcome Rose Ayling-Ellis, a deaf actress who will play a new deaf character called Frankie.
Speaking about joining the cast, Ayling-Ellis said: "I am so excited to be joining the cast of EastEnders and I am equally proud to be one of the first Deaf actresses to be part of this iconic soap. I can't wait for everyone to meet Frankie!"
Max Bowden, who plays Ben Mitchell, took to Twitter to share his excitement, writing: "And so begins the biggest challenge of my career, but the most important exciting. Can't wait for you all to see how epic Rose is too."
And so begins the biggest challenge of my career, but the most important exciting. Can't wait for you all to see how epic Rose is too. https://t.co/40mNOzAXW6
— Max Bowden (@MaxBowden) February 23, 2020
Talking about why they decided to explore this story-line, Executive Producer Jon Sen said: "It has been a long time ambition of EastEnders to reflect the experience of the deaf community and Ben’s new story was the perfect opportunity to do that."
Charlie Swinbourne, who is one of the writers on the soap added: "Creating a story-line and a character for EastEnders has been a lifelong dream of mine, so it's been an incredible experience to work with the EastEnders team over the last few months.
"Being deaf myself, and a fan of the show from an early age, I've always looked out for Ben Mitchell's character because he was the one who wore hearing aids! I wanted to explore how losing more of his hearing affects Ben, as well as how it makes him see the world - and his deaf identity - a bit differently as time goes on."
