Britain’s Got Talent Ofcom complaints double prompting warning from Ashley Banjo

Ofcom complaints over Saturday night’s Britain’s Got Talent have more than doubled to 2,996 in two days, following a polarisation in opinion over a dance routine by former winners Diversity.

The blacklash came over the inclusion of a Black Lives Matter inspired dance routine led by Ashley Banjo, who also stepped in as a judge on the night.

While many fans praised the thought-provoking piece – that made reference to the death of George Floyd and the BLM protests – others have slammed the performance for being ‘too politicised.’

On Monday it was reported the number of complaints to regulators Ofcom had reached 1,121 – that number is now 2,996.

Following the controversy, Banjo has spoken out once again to defend himself against the trolls – who he said did not represent the British public.

Yesterday, Ashley, 31, revealed he had seen thousands of ‘hateful and ignorant messages’ criticising his routine.

The choreographer returned to Instagram this afternoon to share one of the posts he said he’d been repeatedly sent that warned him to stop talking about race.

The image showed the former Britain’s Got Talent winner posed up with Anthony Joshua and Lewis Hamilton with the words: “Dear Joshua and Banjo and any other Black public figures. We the Great British Public will only support you if you entertain us and do not say anything about racism.”

Giving his defiant response, Ashley wrote alongside it: “For the people sending this:

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 #Diversity.”

Yesterday, Ofcom said they were deciding whether or not to investigate the complaints.

So far, judge David Walliams has come out in support of Diversity as he reshared Ashley’s earlier message about the dance routine being the start of real change.

Walliams favourited and then reshared the post to his 2.3million Twitter followers: “I’m so grateful and overwhelmed by all of the love and support but also by the amount of conversation this performance has thrown up. 2020 has been such a historical year. One day we will look back and realise it was the start of real change.”

Banjo’s brother Jordan Banjo also rallied around him and tweeted: “My brother @AshleyBanjo IS. A. GENIUS. I said what I said

A spokesperson for Britain’s Got Talent also defended the performance in a statement issued to the Mirror.

They said: “Diversity’s performance offered their take on the extraordinary events of 2020 opening up important topics of conversation. The show was complied for a family audience.”