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Ashley Banjo

British street dancer, choreographer and actor (born 1988)

Field	Value
name	Ashley Banjo
honorific_suffix
image	Ashley Banjo at the National Television Awards.jpg
caption	Banjo interviewed by UK Gossip TV at the National Television Awards in 2020
birth_name	Ashley Modurotolu Banjo
birth_date
birth_place	Leytonstone, London, England
occupation
years_active	2009–present
current_group	Diversity
dances	Street dance
children	2
relatives	Jordan Banjo (brother)

Ashley Modurotolu Banjo (born 4 October 1988) is an English dancer, choreographer, and television personality. He is the leader of the street dance troupe Diversity who won the third series of the television talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2009*.* Banjo has been a judge on television dance competition shows, including Got to Dance (2009–2014), Dance Dance Dance (2017). and Dancing on Ice (2018–2025). In 2016, he was a co-presenter for the Saturday night BBC game show Can't Touch This.

Early life and education

Banjo was born in Leytonstone, England, and grew up in Essex. His father is Nigerian heavyweight boxer Funso Banjo, and his mother is Danielle, a dance teacher from Ilford. Banjo was educated at the independent St John's School, Billericay, where he was Head Boy and still holds the high jump sports day record.

Diversity

In 2007, Ashley and his younger brother Jordan formed Swift Moves with nine of their friends, before later changing their name to Diversity. He was given the nickname "Chosen" by his fellow Diversity members. In their first year together, they won the Street Dance Weekend 2007 competition, before deciding to enter Britain's Got Talent.

''Britain's Got Talent''

Main article: Britain's Got Talent (series 3)

After receiving "yes" votes from all three judges in their audition, Diversity went on to compete in the first semi-final on 24 May, losing the public vote-decided first place to Susan Boyle but winning the judges' vote against Natalie Okri. In the final six days later, Diversity were announced as the winners, beating Boyle and Julian Smith (who came second and third respectively). As winners of the competition, Diversity received £100,000 (around £9,090 per member) and went on to perform before Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Variety Show on 7 December 2009.

Post ''Britain's Got Talent''

Subsequently, Diversity were nominated in the Dance section of the final South Bank Show awards and won an award at the Pride of Britain Awards

In 2013 Ashley choreographed a tour for Diversity called Limitless. The tour ran from 30 November to 16 December.

In 2021, Ashley partnered with detergent brand Persil and TV channel Sky Nature to make a series of short films highlighting environmental action.

In June 2023, he began playing the Tin Woodman in the West End revival of The Wizard of Oz.

Television work

Ashley was a judge on Sky1's dancing talent show Got to Dance for all five series. Diversity appeared as guest performers at least once every series. In total they did nine performances on the show. In 2015, he presented Perspectives: Michael Jackson's Thriller with Ashley Banjo.

In 2016, Banjo co-presented Can't Touch This, a Saturday night game show for BBC One, alongside Zoe Ball. In 2017, Banjo was a judge on the new ITV series Dance Dance Dance, presented by Alesha Dixon and Will Best.

Since January 2018, Banjo has been part of the judging panel on Dancing on Ice, starting with its tenth series in 2018.

In August 2020, it was announced that due to Simon Cowell's bike injury and recovery period, Banjo would replace Cowell for the live semi-final and final shows of the 14th series of Britain's Got Talent.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1996	Barrymore	Himself
2009, 2016, 2020	Britain's Got Talent	Himself (2009, 2016), Guest Judge (2020)
2010	StreetDance 3D	Aaron
2010–2014	Got to Dance	Himself as a judge
2011	The Real Hustle	Himself
The Magicians	Himself
The Apprentice	Himself
Text Santa	Himself
2012–2014	Ashley Banjo's Secret Street Crew	Himself
2012	Celebrity Juice	Himself
The Cube	Himself, won £20,000 to split between NSPCC and Beatbullying
2013	Stella	Himself, episode 2.7
Celebrity Juice	Himself
Jordan and Perri's Ultimate Block Party	Himself
2014	Ashley Banjo's Big Town Dance	Himself
Stars at Your Service	Himself
This Morning	Himself
Release the Hounds: Jingle Hell	Himself, team won £12,000 to split between NSPCC and Beatbullying
2015	Diversity Live	Himself
You're Back in the Room	Guest
Perspectives Michael Jackson's Thriller with Ashley Banjo	Himself, presenter
2016	Can't Touch This	Himself, co-presenter
2017	Diversity Presents Steal the Show	Himself
Dance Dance Dance	Himself as a judge
All Round to Mrs. Brown's	Himself, guest
Catchphrase: Celebrity Special	Himself, contestant
A Night for the Emergency Services	Himself, presenter
2017—	The Real Full Monty	Himself, co-presenter
2017, 2021—		Pride of Britain Awards	Himself; roving reporter (2017), Co-host (2021—)
2018-2025	Dancing on Ice	Himself as a judge
2019—	Flirty Dancing	Himself, presenter
2020	On Christmas Night	Himself, reader
2021	The Void	Himself, presenter
Ashley Banjo: Britain in Black and White	Himself, presenter
2022	Dance Monsters	Himself, judge

Personal life

After winning Britain's Got Talent in 2009, Banjo took a break from his schooling to concentrate on his dancing. He said that "from the age of 14, I started to teach myself routines". Banjo was in a thirteen-year relationship with Francesca Abbott, who is a member of another dance troupe called Out of the Shadows. They announced their engagement on 2 October 2014. Ashley and Francesa have two children, Rose (born 2019) and Micah (born 2020). Ashley and Francesca announced on 23 December 2022 that they had separated 18 months earlier.

Ashley Banjo is an Official Ambassador of the United Dance Organisation.

Banjo was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to dance.

References

Yeates, Cydney. (22 June 2020). "Ashley Banjo's dad feared him speaking out about George Floyd's death".
(2 June 2009). "Diversity stars' mum is proud of her boys".
Mistlin, Sasha. (2021-10-19). "Ashley Banjo on Black Lives Matter, backlash and reality TV: ‘I’m a sceptic of cancel culture’". [[The Guardian]].
McGarry, Lisa. (24 May 2009). "Britain's Got Talent: Can Diversity Beat Flawless?". Unreality TV.
Leach, Ben. (30 May 2009). "Diversity beat Susan Boyle to win Britain's Got Talent". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
(7 January 2010). "Diversity nominated in Arts award". BBC News.
"Limitless tickets".
"Limitless".
(22 February 2021). "Persil and Sky Nature partner for Changemakers films encouraging social and environmental action".
Thomas, Sophie. (2023-02-23). "Jason Manford and Ashley Banjo to star in 'The Wizard of Oz'".
"Jordan and Perri talk about Diversity performances".
"BBC game show hosted by Zoe Ball wraps up filming in Titanic Quarter's T13: Can't Touch This set to return to Belfast". Belfast Telegraph.
(19 October 2017). "Dancing on Ice confirms Ashley Banjo as judge for 2018 series". Digital Spy.
(2020-08-23). "Britain's Got Talent announces Ashley Banjo as Simon Cowell's replacement for semi-finals".
Bond, Kimberley. (23 Feb 2020). "Who is Perri Kiely? Dancing on Ice contestant and Diversity star".
"Press Releases".
"Flirty Dancing Stand Up To Cancer special: Everything you need to know".
"BBC One – On Christmas Night, 2020".
"Ashley Banjo: Britain in Black and White".
Mistlin, Sasha. (2021-10-19). "Ashley Banjo on Black Lives Matter, backlash and reality TV: ‘I’m a sceptic of cancel culture’". The Guardian.
"Ashley Banjo on twitter".
Beasley, Tom. (2022-12-23). "Ashley Banjo has split from his wife after 16 years as a couple".
"Ambassadors – UDO Street Dance".
{{London Gazette. (1 January 2022)
(31 December 2021). "New Year Honours 2022: Lumley and Redgrave become dames". BBC News.
(2021-12-31). "Diversity's Ashley Banjo 'humbled and proud' with MBE honour". BBC News.

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