Ashley Banjo hopes fallout from Diversity’s Black Lives Matter routine on Britain’s Got Talent will ‘teach my kids to do what’s right’

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Ashley Banjo hopes going through the ‘eye of the storm’ after performing a Black Lives Matter-inspired routine on Britain’s Got Talent teaches his children to stand up for what they believe in.

In September 2020 Ashley brought his troupe Diversity back to the stage that made their name to perform a dance inspired by the events of last year, including the protests against police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd.

The routine drew 31,000 Ofcom complaints and the star himself was subject to horrific racist abuse online, getting 100 vile comments a minute when the backlash was at its worst.

Despite what he went through in the public eye, the dancer, who shares daughter Rose and son Micah with wife Francesca Abbott, hopes to show it to his children when they’re older so they know ‘to do what’s right’.

On Tuesday’s Loose Women the father-of-two shared his thoughts on the BGT appearance getting a Bafta nod for Virgin Media’s must-see moment.

He told panelists Ruth Langsford, Brenda Edwards, Gloria Hunniford and Penny Lancaster that while he would love to win, it’s not the most important thing.

Ashley revealed: ‘I was just interested in saying what was on my heart and what was going on at the time.

‘I would be absolutely over the moon to win this one, but it’s the one moment where an award won’t define the moment for me. It was about standing up for what was right and going through the storm. I want to use that moment and teach my kids to do what’s right.’

His brother Jordan, who appeared on the programme with Ashley, confessed he wasn’t always sure about the performance, adding: ‘Even I said, “Ooh should we do that?”, he said “The fact you think it’s an ‘ooh’ is why we should”. I’m glad we did do it and luckily now we’re getting the positive reaction we hoped for.’

The TV star, who stepped in as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent last year, also spoke about his surprise phone call from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

He shared: ‘I was sitting in my garden, then I get a phone call, “How you doing Ash?”. We had a proper chat, it was really insightful and something I’ll be grateful for.

‘There were people who understood what we were feeling, it was nice to talk to people.’

Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV.

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