'I still get patronised on a daily basis...' Rosie Jones still feels 'underestimated in society due to her cerebral palsy

Yahoo

19-06-2025

Rosie Jones feels "underestimated" every day due to her having cerebral palsy.
The 34-year-old comedian-and-writer also admits she still feels demeaned within society - all of which is reflected in her new Channel 4 sitcom Pushers, which highlights how society underestimates disabled people.
The show sees Rosie play Emily Jones, a woman who builds an illegal drug empire after her state benefits are cut due after an assessment of her disability.
Rosie admits her own real life experiences influenced her writing.
Speaking in the new UK issue of Closer magazine, Rosie said: "I am underestimated every single day - but I've never dealt cocaine in my life!
"As a 34-year-old woman, I am still infantilised by people who don't know me. I still get patronised on a daily basis, and it's annoying.
"We wanted to see how far we could push the fact that society underestimates disabled people and don't think they're capable.
"And from my experience, from the disabled people that I know and love, this isn't the case at all."
Rosie has said creating Pushers is the "pinnacle" of her career.
She admitted: "Getting my own sitcom is everything I've ever wanted - it is the pinnacle of my career.
"I thought, 'If I have this opportunity I'm going to put everything into it,' and I have."
Speaking about her pride in the project, Rosie added: "I'm so happy with it and I pride myself on never putting my name to something I don't wholeheartedly believe in.
"Some people in this industry will show up on set, do their job, then never think about it ever again - that's not me.
"Am I a control freak? Yes! I was a creator, co-writer, executive producer and actor so that meant I could have a say from early through the audition process, filming, then onto the editing."
Rosie felt nervous about acting in the programme, but her castmates - who include Ryan McParland, Lynn Hunter and Jon Furlong, among others - helped her each day on set.
She explained: "I have acted a little bit but I've never been to drama school - I don't know what I'm doing - so to be able to act with so many brilliant actors made me a better actor."
And Rosie wanted a fully disabled cast to reflect the world we live in.
"We were very passionate from the beginning that even though I was a main character, we cannot pick only one disabled character then surround them with non-disabled people because that isn't really realistic to the world we live in.
"I think it's incredibly damaging when you have one disabled character because are they meant to represent 24 per cent of the country? No! And being disabled is not a personality type.
"We really wanted a core group in Pushers who were predominantly disabled."