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“Dancing With the Stars” season 31 contestant Daniel Durant has given his pro partner Britt Stewart an incredibly special gift — a “sign name.” Read on to find out what exact that means and what her sign name is, plus how fans are reacting to the “emotional” gift.
Durant Gave His Partner a ‘Sign Name’ That Means Her ‘Heart Shines’
In American Sign Language (ASL), names are typically signed by spelling out the letters. But deaf people can give each other or other people “sign names,” which means coming up with a gesture that means their name.
As a Reddit commenter explains, “Name signs are a huge honor, and you can only be given a name sign by a deaf person. It’s their honor to give, because it’s their language and their culture.”
Durant has given Stewart a sign name, they revealed during an Instagram live, and she wrote that she absolutely loves it.
Durant explains in the video that he wanted to give his partner a sign name, but he couldn’t quite come up with the right gesture. He eventually figured it out, though, and he gave it to her right before their first dance.
“Before our first dance, right before the first dance, we were training in the ballroom and I realized her sign name is Britt,” said Durant, as he made the sign by pulling his hand away from his heart while fluttering his middle finger.
“Why? Because she has a huge heart and she’s sweet and she’s very friendly to people and she’s inspirational for so many people. She’s a great person, so her heart shines and Britt shines, and that’s Britt. I gave her that name and it’s a great fit for her,” explained the deaf actor.
“You guys, it makes me emotional. It’s so sweet. When I found out, he told me and like he said, he just found the perfect time,” gushed Stewart, adding, “Daniel picked the perfect moment to give me my sign name. It was perfect. It was before the first dance. I felt so much warmth and love. It was perfect.”
“Finally when the sign name came right before that first dance, it was perfect. It was like a light bulb popped up in my head and now her sign name is [signs Britt],” said Durant. He added that he’ll be working on a sign name for his interpreter Gabe next.
Fans Are Very Emotional Over the Sweet Gesture
On Reddit and Instagram, “Dancing With the Stars” fans cannot get over how sweet it was for Durant to give his partner a sign name.
“This made me tear up in a good way. How beautiful you have a sign name! Love this trio,” wrote one fan on Instagram.
“I loved this so much. What a perfect sign name!” wrote another fan.
A third fan wrote, “Y’all are beautiful together and I love all of this!!!”
“I love Britt’s sign name! Perfect! Yes, she does have a huge heart! Daniel and Gabe are awesome too!” wrote a fourth fan.
“What a beautiful sign name you get, Britt. And so sweet from Daniel to think about this! So special!” wrote another fan.
“This is so incredibly sweet. Britt seems so touched,” wrote a fan on Reddit.
Another Reddit fan added, “Getting a sign name is a beautiful gift from someone and this made me tear up.”
“Dancing With the Stars” airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific time on Disney Plus.
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