Entertainment
Fleur East celebrates ‘importance’ of two people of colour presenting gameshow The Void: ‘Things are slowly changing’
Fleur hosts new gameshow The Void with Ashley Banjo (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Fleur East has celebrated the impact of two people of colour presenting The Void as she hosts alongside Ashley Banjo, telling Metro.co.uk that it is an ‘amazing’ opportunity.
Throughout their respective careers, Fleur and Ashley have both proven to have dynamic screen presence, with Fleur gaining fame as a runner-up on The X Factor and Ashley winning Britain’s Got Talent with dance troupe Diversity.
They have since gone on to star on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and Dancing on Ice respectively, finally joining forces in a showbiz match made in heaven for new ITV gameshow The Void.
The Void sees contestants take on daunting mental and physical challenges that could put them at risk of falling into the void below – a terrifying tank of 520,000 litres of water.
Fleur told Metro.co.uk that it was ‘such an incredible opportunity to front a primetime ITV show’, particularly as the physicality of the series suits her passion for fitness.
Fleur, 33, and Ashley, 32, actually met for the first time on set, where they were delighted to discover that they ‘got on very well’ and ‘had a lot in common’.
Fleur and Ashley hadn’t met before starring on The Void together (Picture: ITV)
The singer explained that it was ‘amazing to be doing a primetime show on such a huge channel and a channel that we both got introduced to everyone on’, in addition to ‘the fact that it’s two people of colour’.
‘To see that representation, and to know that we’re repping for our community as well at the same time,’ she said.
Fleur recalled being told how great it was that she was wearing her natural hair out on the programme and that ‘it’s larger than life’.
The presenter emphasised how her new role is ‘celebrating that as well, because we were just saying it’s so important for the younger generation to see people that look like them on TV’.
‘As soon as you see that you go oh my gosh, I can do that as well. If Fleur’s up there, Ashley’s up there then it’s possible for me, and I think that’s so, so important,’ she said.
Fleur has presented on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway since 2020 (Picture: Kieron McCarron/ITV/REX)
Fleur hopes that within the entertainment industry, ‘getting our foot in the door and showing what we can do’ can ‘hopefully give more opportunities to people of colour’, as she noted that there are ‘so many talented presenters out there that haven’t been given a chance yet’.
Looking back on her own childhood watching gameshows on TV, Fleur said that no one ‘really springs to mind’ as presenters who she felt represented her, adding that while there are people of colour who ‘have had amazing opportunities’, they ‘have been few and far between’.
‘For example even someone like Alison Hammond who I think is incredible, she has worked and grafted for so long and now she’s finally in a place where she’s got so many shows, she’s fronting shows, on the sofa on This Morning, so much has happened for her but it’s been so many years down the line,’ Fleur said.
‘It’s been a long time coming. So I think that now we’re in a good time. I think it’s a good space, I think things are slowly changing and yeah there’s been a lot more opportunity and I’m really excited about it.’
More: ITV
Alison actually DMed Fleur about The Void, the singer revealed, saying how much she loved the programme and remarking that she’d be ‘amazing’ on it.
If a celebrity version of The Void is made, Fleur expressed her hope that Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield would take part. Bring on the This Morning showdown.
The Void airs tonight at 8pm on ITV and is available to watch on ITV Hub.
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