Alesha Dixon has showed her support for Diversity and fellow judge Ashley Banjo after their recent dance performance on Britain’s Got Talent sparked a huge row amongst viewers.
Alesha, 41, made her feelings towards trolls very clear as she took to Instagram to comment on Ashley’s most recent post earlier this week.
Ashley, 31, shared a message he had been sent by a troll which read: “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.”
The post featured black and white images of Ashley, Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and boxer Anthony Joshua.
Ashley captioned the post: “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.”
Alesha Dixon has hit out at trolls and defended Diversity’s recent performance (Image: ITV)
Mum-of-two Alesha was quick to comment and simply wrote: “The can kiss my black a** (sic).”
Ashley replied to her comment: “Real talk,” but she wasn’t the only famous face who showed her support to Diversity.
Alesha told trolls to ‘kiss my black a**’ on Instagram
JLS singer Aston Merrygold wrote: “It’s like that yeah! Guess it’s time to speak louder for the people that can’t quite hear!”
Fellow JLS member JB Gill added: “speak on it bro,” while Dancing On Ice pro Matt Evers wrote: “Preach!!!”
Diversity performed on Britain’s Got Talent last weekend (Image: ITV)
On Wednesday, Ofcom confirmed that Diversity’s performance had racked up over 7,500 complaints since it aired on Sunday, 6 September.
The dance had been choreographed by Ashley himself, and at one point a man dressed as a policeman was seen kneeling on his neck in reference to the death of George Floyd in the US earlier this year.
The powerful routine was choreographed by Ashley Banjo (Image: ITV)
On Monday it was revealed that 1,121 viewers had complained to regulator Ofcom with that number rising to 2,966 by Tuesday.
On Wednesday an Ofcom spokesperson confirmed the figure had totalled 7,581.
Speaking on his Kiss FM radio show on Wednesday morning, Ashley’s brother and fellow Diversity member Jordan broke down as he spoke about the backlash.
Jordan Banjo said the routine was ‘special’ to the dance troupe (Image: ITV)
“Of course you get some critiques but normally it’s focused on the dance,” Jordan said.
“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.”
The dance made a direct reference to the death of George Floyd (Image: ITV)
Jordan then became emotional as he continued: “I can’t speak for anyone else it’s sad, it’s sad, genuinely.
“I feel really anxious and worried saying something like black lives matter when that’s all we want man, love and positivity.
“No one is saying only black lives matter, as a son and as a dad, I look at Pel [Perri] and I just.. it’s all positivity and love, let’s keep it moving.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
