Was that theatre scene based on experience? In real life, Burnell trained and travelled as a stage actress before joining the Cbeebies team. She did not have a television at home until she was nine, she says, so claims to be unaware of the lack of disabled role models on children's TV in her youth - or of the fact that she is a trailblazer herself.
Also what you have to remember is I don't just see myself as a disabled performer. I'm a woman with lots of other things going on.
I wasn't thinking, oh, no-one else has ever done this before. And even if that had occurred to me, I wouldn't have cared. How do you explain a missing hand to a child?
The Magical Playroom at the Edinburgh Fringe. Others were simply uncomfortable with her being a nurse. Why and how is it funny? Do you feel that enough has been done to cast disabled actors on television programmes and films? There is still an awfully long way to go in terms of the representation of disability on screen and the use of disabled actors.
I also think that the industry really needs more disabled talent behind the camera too, for example, writers, producers and commissioners. If you change the storytellers, you can change the story. How did you get the role as a CBeebies presenter and what did you enjoy most about the job?
Getting the job at CBeebies was fairly similar to any other acting audition, only a lot longer and more varied. We had to sing and write a short section to perform as a story.
Working at CBeebies was wonderful. I also loved that my disability was never mentioned or explained to the children watching — why would we have, it was irrelevant.
The same can be said for my co-presenter. So, they made a decision not to mention it and to just get on with it. I just wanted to live my life and show that difference is completely normal.
You left CBeebies in Would you ever consider returning or presenting on other TV channels? I did CBeebies for eight years, so I feel like I have ticked that box. But, for me, it would need to be interesting, informative and necessary. I also made an appearance on the Great British Menu , which was deliciously fun! At some point, I would absolutely love to move into screenwriting too. Because of my dyslexia, my mum read to me up until the age of Having so many stories and worlds to escape to was wonderful.
But they were often fairly whitewashed and ableist versions of the world. There were no examples of disabled characters who were really wicked and cold, or the princess or champion.
Stories and books — whether we read them ourselves or listen to them being read aloud — are such a vital part of childhood. They expand our imaginations, help us learn empathy, give hope and inspire literacy and learning. Have you got any new books due for release soon and would you consider writing stories for adults in the future?
I am super proud to bring this book to the world! I would love to continue to write forever. I may at some point write for older readers, but that would depend on the story. I think that sometimes I got in the way of my career. I wanted so desperately to be an actor, I pushed too hard and put undue stress on myself. I wish I had gone into it with a calmer mindset, rather than feeling I had to prove that I belonged there.
You can find out more about Cerrie Burnell by following her on Twitter and Instagram. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.
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Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with a website. Burnell began writing plays after studying drama at university.
Amelie is mixed race but Burnell could not find stories featuring children who looked like her, so wrote Snowflakes, which Oxford Playhouse turned into a musical last Christmas.
It can be very isolating. As a result I can write anywhere. Society conditions men to not have that expectation that they will be there, so they expect to miss things. When the channel moved from London to Salford in Burnell went with it, but then began commuting after moved back south to live near her parents in south-east London so they could help with the energetic Amelie.
She believes diversity on TV and in books is the same battle.
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