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Britain’s Got Talent 2022: Diversity return with powerful reminder of BLM routine that sparked record-breaking complaints-Stella Akinwumi-Entertainment – Metro
The dance group returned with another powerful performance.
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Diversity paid homage to their Black Lives Matter routine during Wednesday’s Britain’s Got Talent semi-final after it broke Ofcom’s record for TV complaints in 2020.
The dance troupe – who were crowned winners of the ITV series in 2009 – returned to the stage with an electrifying routine, and the group which includes members Perri Kiely and Jordan Banjo took the knee while Ashley declared: ‘You have to stand by what you believe in if you want to make change.’
‘We said what we said, and we will say it again. Nothing but love to those who stood by our name,’ he added.
Nearly two years prior, the slick street dancers performed an emotional routine that reflected on the events of 2020, including the death of George Floyd and the protests that erupted around the world.
While some viewers were clearly impressed by the emotional performance, flocking to social media to praise the dancers, others complained to Ofcom in their droves.
Choreographer Ashley recently revealed that he still receives vile messages over the routine to this day.
Diversity returned to the stage during Wednesday’s BGT semi-final (Picture: ITV)
Ofcom received more than 10,000 complaints about the episode of Britain’s Got Talent (Picture: ITV)
Speaking to The Mirror, he admitted: ‘It happens all the time.
‘I did this slot on GMB to talk about how life-changing it was winning a Bafta for the routine, and I went on Twitter afterwards, and it was just like a stream of comments.
Days after the powerful BLM performance, group member Jordan Banjo fought back tears as he revealed the abuse the group had been faced since their act, and branded the ordeal as ‘sad’.
During a segment of his Kiss FM radio show, the 29-year-old addressed the complaints – alongside co-star Perri – telling listeners: ‘Of course you get some critiques but normally it’s focused on the dance.
Diversity won the public-voted Bafta TV Awards for must see moment last year (Picture: Getty)
‘But this one was different, it was really important, it was special to us.
‘We are all about positivity and love and we got so much positivity and love back from this one.
‘But we also got bombarded with messages and articles of horrible stuff about us, about our families, about how even now Diversity not diverse enough because there’s only five white people in it.’
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At the Bafta TV Awards 2021, Diversity’s dance won Virgin Media’s must-see moment, a category voted for by the public.
Elsewhere, last night’s BGT saw singer Tom Ball and comedian Eva Abley sailing through to Sunday’s final.
Britain’s Got Talent returns tonight at 8pm on ITV.
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