‘Haven’t stayed in contact’ Ashley Banjo reflects on Jim Davidson walking out of interview

Last year, Diversity performed an emotional routine inspired by police officer Derek Chauvin’s brutal murder of George Floyd. Jim Davidson slammed the performance at the time and was

subsequently invited to discuss his objections with Ashley Banjo for his documentary Britain in Black and White. However, the comedian abruptly ended the chat by walking out and Ashley has

now addressed whether the pair stayed in touch. 

Diversity was invited to perform on Britain’s Got Talent last year 11 years after winning the show. 

Their powerful tribute to George Floyd received more than 20,000 complaints to Ofcom, making it the most complained-about show in a decade.

However, the routine won a Bafta for must-see moment as voted for by the public earlier this year.

Shortly after winning the accolade, Ashley made a documentary looking at racism in Britain today. 

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The Diversity star sat down with Jim and quizzed him on the video he made slamming the routine as “ridiculous” and “indulgent”.

In the documentary, Jim said: “You did a dance about a terrible crime, but ignored all the other crimes that are committed by Black people cause even to report it seems racist.”

“No. What's racist is when you use their skin colour as a reason for crime," Ashley replied.

The comedian removed his microphone and walked out of the interview.

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"Don't walk out because I'm asking you the hard questions," Ashley asserted but Jim chose to end the chat.

When asked if he’s spoken to Jim since, Ashley said: “Oh, could you imagine those chats? 

“We haven’t stayed in contact. Jim has spoken a lot about it online, but I don’t need to say anything else. I want to let the documentary speak.”

Discussing the initial negative response the routine received, Ashley admitted he was “hugely” affected by it.

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He explained: “It consumed every waking moment at one point. 

“We’d never had a negative reaction to anything really, and this was a huge reaction.” 

The dancer and presenter revealed he didn’t leave his house for a few weeks after the performance.

“I needed a little while to process what was going on,” he continued. 

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“You don’t know how messages on Twitter or Instagram will translate in the physical world.”

The Diversity star received several violent threats but didn’t get the police involved. 

“Luckily, the threats didn’t come to anything,” he told Radio Times. 

Ashley Banjo returns to ITV with Strictly the Real Full Monty later this month. 

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