Kevin Clifton defends Diversity’s BGT dance and is ‘astounded’ by complaints

Kevin Clifton has given his views on Diversity ‘s Britain’s Got Talent Performance that racked up thousands of Ofcom complaints from viewers.

The group’s frontman Ashley Banjo led the stars in a dramatic retelling of some of the biggest news events of the year – including the murder of George Floyd – for a routine aired on the first BGT semi-final on September 5.

But the message seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as Ofcom soon received more than 25,000 complaints from offended viewers.

And now Kevin has given his take on the performance, admitting that he’s nothing short of “astounded” by the complaints.

Speaking on his podcast The Kevin Clifton Show, the former Strictly Come Dancing star said: “I loved it. I loved the piece that they did, and actually it moved me.

“I thought it was great that they did it. I was astounded that people complained about it, I was like – I couldn’t believe that people were writing in to complain about this.

“I’m there going ‘This is great, I love this Diversity number’ but there’s 20,000 people over there going ‘There’s no place for this on my TV screen’.”

He went on: “This is an argument that gets thrown around, and it’s the most annoying thing in the world… ‘This is being shoved down my throat’ and ‘I’m not here to have a political statement shoved down my throat on a Saturday night’.

“My stance is, no one is shoving anything down anyone’s throat. There’s 900 million other channels nowadays so just change the channel.

“But then they say ‘No but me and my daughter we like Britain’s Got Talent’ and one of the arguments was that there’s a place for it but not on a family entertainment show like BGT.”

He added: “I think, that’s exactly the place for it. Diversity have done exactly what they should have done, they should have done that on Britain’s Got Talent.”

It comes as ITV have thrown their support behind Ashley Banjo and his Diversity bandmates following their controversial dance routine.

Following soaring complaints and a drop in viewing figures since the dance, ITV have responded by saying BGT has always reflected the diversity of British society as they heaped praise on Banjo for shedding light on such important issues.

An ITV spokesperson told the Mirror: “Britain’s Got Talent has always been an inclusive show, which showcases diversity and supports strong storytelling in all forms and ITV stands behind the decision to broadcast Diversity’s performance on BGT.

“Ashley and the group are a great example of the talent, creativity and diversity of modern Britain and their performance was an authentic, heartfelt response to many of the issues and events which have affected society in 2020.”

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