A new dating show, Hold My Hand, is believed to be the first series conducted entirely in British Sign Language (BSL), to challenge misconceptions about deaf relationships while celebrating BSL as a language and culture, producers say.
The show is broadcast on Lumo TV, a deaf-led streaming platform for sign language users and sign-presented content. “For too long, the use of British Sign Language has been treated as an afterthought in mainstream entertainment and reality TV,” said Lumo TV CEO Camilla Arnold. “With this series, we’re flipping that on its head,” she told the Guardian.
Hosted by deaf identical twin presenting duo, Hermon and Heroda Berhane, it features contestants who are either deaf or children of deaf adults (Codas) who would have used BSL to communicate with their parents.“People have never seen our culture, our identity, the way we discuss things. So it’s a dating show, yes, but it’s not just about dating; it’s also revealing our identity and our culture, and that has never been seen before,” said Heroda Berhane.
The twins also hope the show will help challenge misconceptions around BSL, with research suggesting 71% of 18- to 24-year-olds would not feel confident dating someone who uses BSL as their main method of communication. Berhane describes BSL as “just another language”, and encourages greater openness and curiosity from hearing audiences.
Across its first three episodes, which includes an instalment featuring LGBT+ singletons, contestants take part in light-hearted games that foster open conversations about relationships and intimacy.
We have to learn from one other. You speak the language that I cannot hear, and I speak a language that you don’t understand
“I really hope that hearing people realise, ‘Gosh, deaf people, we’re the same. There’s no difference. We’re all the same. We’re human.’” said Heroda. “There is love, there is sex, there is joy, there is flirtation, and there’s vulnerability as well. We’re exactly the same.”
Hermon adds that we have to learn from one another. “You speak the language that I cannot hear, and I speak a language that you don’t understand,” she tells the Guardian.
Representation is also expanding in children’s television. In a forthcoming storyline in Peppa Pig, Peppa’s younger brother George will be diagnosed as moderately deaf and fitted with a hearing aid, following consultation with the National Deaf Children’s Society to ensure an authentic portrayal.
Advocates say such visibility matters for the more than 50,000 deaf children in the UK.
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