Alesha Dixon has stood by her fellow BGT judge Ashley Banjo following Diversity’s Black Lives Matter-inspired performance on Saturday’s semi-final.
The singer, 41, gave her support to the dancer, 31, when he shared a post on Instagram from a troll telling him to keep politics out of entertainment on Tuesday.
Posting a comment from one such troll who also referred to Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton, the message read: ‘Dear Joshua, Hamilton, Banjo and any other black public figures.
‘They can kiss my black a**’: Alesha Dixon stood by fellow BGT judge Ashley Banjo on Tuesday after Ofcom received over 10,000 complaints about Diversity’s BLM-inspired performance
‘We the Great British Public will only support you if you entertain us and do not say anything about racism. Thank you for your understanding.’
In response, Ashley wrote: ‘1. You do not represent or speak for the Great British public. 2. Silence was never and will never be an option. 3. Change is inevitable… Get used to it.’
In response Alesha simply wrote: ‘They can kiss my black a**’, and she wasn’t the only celebrity to throw her support behind Ashley, as Amanda Holden commented with a heart emoji
While JLS star Aston Merrygold wrote: ‘It’s like that yeah! Guess it’s time to speak louder for the people that can’t quite hear!’
Supportive: The singer, 41, gave her support to the dancer, 31, when he shared a post on Instagram from a troll telling him to keep politics out of entertainment
Powerful: Diversity’s Black Lives Matter-inspired performance took place during Saturday’s Britain’s Got Talent semi-final
Meanwhile, Ashley’s wife Francesca took to social media to share her own thoughts on the negative reaction from some viewers, saying ‘shying away from issues’ is not the answer.
Sharing clips from the performance, she wrote; ‘On Saturday @ashleybanjogram and @diversityofficial performed this routine on @bgt, 11 years after winning the show. To call this a ‘dance routine’ is an understatement to say the least.
‘This piece was a take on the unprecedented events of 2020, from Covid 19 to BLM, from clapping for carers as a nation to coming together in our own families and finding the light in the darkest of times.
Calling it out: Ashley posted a comment from one troll who referred to him, Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton, and said they shouldn’t ‘say anything about racism’
Response: Ashley wrote back, ‘1. You do not represent or speak for the Great British public. 2. Silence was never and will never be an option. 3. Change is inevitable… Get used to it’
Words of encouragement: Alesha wasn’t the only celebrity to throw her support behind Ashley, as Amanda Holden, Ashley’s brother Jordan, Judi Love and Aston Merrygold also commented
‘Some may find this uncomfortable, may feel it inappropriate, but shying away from issues is not going to bring about the change that is so long overdue.’
Francesca went on: ‘Watching this I could not be prouder of my husband.
‘Rose and Micah will watch this and when they are old enough to understand they will be proud that their Dad created something so poignant and used his voice to stand up for what is right. We are one race, the human race.’
On Thursday, Diversity’s performance became the second most complained about TV moment of the past 10 years.
Reaction: Ashley’s wife Francesca also took to social media to share her own thoughts on the negative reaction from some viewers, saying ‘shying away from issues’ is not the answer.
Proud wife: Francesca wrote, ‘Some may find this uncomfortable, may feel it inappropriate, but shying away from issues is not going to bring about the change that is so long overdue’
Ofcom complaints reached over 10,000, knocking the Kim Woodburn/Coleen Nolan argument – which took place on Loose Women in 2018 – off the second spot with only 7,912 complaints.
The first remains the Celebrity Big Brother ‘punchgate’ – also in 2018 – which saw . Roxanne Pallett wrongly accuse Ryan Thomas of hitting her. This garnered 25,327 complaints.
At the time of writing, Diversity’s dance has racked up 10,267 disgruntled protestations from viewers.
Second place: Diversity’s Britain’s Got Talent BLM-inspired dance has become the second most complained about TV moment of the past 10 years
His brother and co-star Jordan Banjo got teary as he discussed the ‘horrible’ messages the group have received on his Wednesday KISS radio show.
Diversity’s routine, which narrated the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in May, had already polarised fans of the mainstream talent show on Saturday night due to its overtly political stance.
An Ofcom spokesperson confirmed to MailOnline on Wednesday afternoon that Britain’s Got Talent has received 7,581 complaints so far. On Monday the figure stood at 1,121 and Tuesday 2,966.
They added: ‘We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.’
First place: The first remains the Celebrity Big Brother ‘punchgate’ – also in 2018 – which saw . Roxanne Pallett wrongly accuse Ryan Thomas of hitting her. This garnered 25,327 complaints
Third place: Ofcom complaints have reached over 10,000 as of Thursday, knocking the Kim Woodburn/Coleen Nolan argument in 2018 off the second spot with only 7,912 complaints
Talking about the Ofcom complaints and ‘horrible’ messages the group have received from trolls, Jordan fought back tears on his Wednesday KISS radio show with co-dancer Perri Kiely.
Perri started by saying: ‘On Saturday we performed with Diversity on Britain’s Got Talent.
‘Our performance covered the events of this year and the appalling messages that need to be spoken about.’
To which Jordan added: ‘Of course you get some critiques but normally it’s focused on the dance. But this one was different, it was really important, it was special to us.
Topical: Diversity’s routine, which narrated the killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in May, had already polarised fans on Saturday night due to its overtly political stance
‘We are all about positivity and love and we got so much positivity and love back from this one.’
Jordan said that the group has been ‘bombarded’ with messages, he continued: ‘Horrible stuff about us, about our families, about how even now Diversity not diverse enough because there’s only five white people in it.’
The star’s voice then broke as he fought back tears and added: ‘I can’t speak for anyone else it’s sad, it’s sad, genuinely.
‘I feel anxious and worried saying something like Black Lives Matter when that’s all we want, love and positivity, no one is saying only Black Lives Matter.’
Perri, 24, also told a troll to ‘bin’ themselves after they hit out at the group on Twitter.
He put: ‘Bin yourself,’ followed by a waste basket and added: ‘I can’t believe the replies to this… apparently these people are adults!?Go educate yourselves.’
Difficult: Jordan (R) fought back tears on his Wednesday KISS radio show with co-dancer Perri Kiely (L) as he said the group were ‘bombarded’ with ‘horrible’ messages (pictured in 2017)