Ashley Banjo says his 'Britain's Got Talent' Black Lives Matter routine caused divisions in his own family

Katie Archer
·Contributor
Updated ·2 min read
Ashley Banjo arriving at the Kiss Haunted House Party held at the SSE Wembley Arena, Wembley, London. (Photo by Matt Crossick/PA Images via Getty Images)
Ashley Banjo (Matt Crossick/PA Images via Getty Images)

Ashley Banjo has said his Black Lives Matter dance routine from Britain’s Got Talent has even caused divisions in his own family.

The Diversity star fronted an emotional Black Lives Matter-inspired performance for the show that told the story of the killing of George Floyd and featured a dancer dressed as a police officer kneeling on his neck.

Sparking more than 25,000 viewer complaints to Ofcom, it made Britain’s Got Talent the most complained-about show of 2020, but Banjo has always stood by his routine and said he is proud of it.

Watch: Ashley Banjo responds to haters of Diversity's BLM performance

Now he has told The Star that there were even some difficulties very close to home.

He said: “Even among my own family and friends the performance sparked conversation. There has been some negativity with my family. There was division.

“People didn’t directly disagree with the performance but there was a conversation about if it was really necessary. I saw it happen in my own household.

“And there are people who normally talk to me but suddenly we haven’t spoken at all. Silence says a lot.”

Ashley Banjo arriving for the Pride of Britain Awards held at the The Grosvenor House Hotel, London. (Photo by Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)
Ashley Banjo says even some of his family disagreed with his Britain's Got Talent routine. (Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)

Banjo also shared that he was still getting online abuse for his dance, saying that he often got sent negative messages before appearing as a judge on Dancing On Ice live shows.

Adding that he got “hundreds of messages a week”, he said he didn’t believe those trolling him would be brave enough to say the same thing to his face.

Dancing on Ice: SR13 on ITV, Pictured: Ashley Banjo. (ITV)
Ashley Banjo is a judge on Dancing On Ice. (ITV)

Banjo said the reaction “fires me up” and that he thought it was important to use the platform of his fame to prompt important conversations.

Talking about how he planned to make the most of his appearances on TV, he said he was going to use his fame to raise awareness of important issues, whether everyone agreed with it or not.

Watch: How chaos at the US Capitol exposed a double standard

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