Britain’s Got Talent: Alesha Dixon wades into BLM row as BGT judge tells haters: ‘kiss my black a**’ after 15k complain
BRITAIN’S Got Talent star Alesha Dixon waded into the Black Lives Matter dance row by telling haters: “kiss my black a**”.
Diversity’s performance on Saturday night – which featured Ashley Banjo lying on the floor with a white police officer kneeling on him – has become the second-most complained-about TV moment of the decade.
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The dance involved talking points of the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as including imagery of George Floyd’s death, leading to 15,500 Ofcom complaints.
Alesha has now stuck up for fellow judge Ashley – who has stood in as a judge on BGT as Simon Cowell recovers from his back injury.
The Diversity frontman shared an image of himself alongside boxer Anthony Joshua and Formula 1 racer Lewis Hamilton.
Underneath the pictures, it read: “Dear Joshua and Banjo and other Black public figures. We the Great British Public will only support you if you entertain us and do not say anything about racism.”
Along with support from fellow celebs like Amanda Holden, Alesha replied: “They can kiss my black a**”.
Meanwhile, Ashley’s wife Francesca Abbott – who is also a dancer – took to her own Instagram to defend her husband’s dance routine and said she is proud of him.
She wrote: “On Saturday @ashleybanjogram and @diversity_official 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.
“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.
“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.”
The pair have been married for five years and share two children: Rose and Micah.
Diversity’s performance is the second-most complained about TV moment in a decade, behind Roxanne Pallett’s Celebrity Big Brother ‘punchgate’ drama with former Corrie star Ryan Thomas with 25,327 complaints, and behind Kim Woodburn’s interview on Loose Women with 7,912 complaints.
Ashley revealed earlier this week that he received a barrage of abuse over the performance.
But the show’s stand-in judge thanked critics for proving that it was a necessary performance.
Taking to Twitter, he wrote: “So much to say… But I’ll Just let the performance talk. Thousands of messages of Love and support – Thank you.
“For the thousands of messages of hate and ignorance – Thank you. You highlight exactly what needs to change. Sending nothing but love to you all.”
Some BGT viewers said the “powerful” performance had moved them to tears while others insisted a “political statement” had no place on the talent show.
Ashley’s brother Jordan fought back tears yesterday over the “horrible” complaints, speaking on his Kiss Radio show he said it was “genuinely sad”.
Jordan, 27, said: “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.
“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.”
Getting emotional, he added added: “I can’t speak for anyone else it’s sad, it’s sad, genuinely.”
Meanwhile, Perri hit back at one critic telling them to “get in the bin”.