Ashley Banjo nicknamed ‘Chosen‘ is a British street dancer, choreographer, and actor who is famed for being the leader of the dance troupe “Diversity“. The troupe won the third series of “Britain’s Got Talent“. He and the other members of Diversity had the unique opportunity to perform in front of Queen Elizabeth II in 2009. He was a judge on the Sky1 talent show “Got to Dance” and co-presenter of the Saturday night BBC game show “Can’t Touch This”.
Since 2018, he has been a judge on “Dancing on Ice”. He replaced Simon Cowell, who was recovering from an electric motorcycle accident, as a judge on the ITV show Britain’s Got Talent in September and October 2020 during the live shows. He will be seen as the judge of Dancing on Ice 2023 along with former Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse judging alongside former Olympic skating champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.
What is Ashley Banjo Famous For?
- Ashley Banjo is a street dancer, choreographer, and actor.
- Banjo is famous as the leader of the dance troupe “Diversity” which won the third series of Britain’s Got Talent.
Who are Ashley Banjo’s Parents?
Ashley Banjo took birth on 4th October 1988 in Leytonstone, London, England with the birth name of Ashley Modurotolu Banjo. He holds British nationality and his ethnicity is British-White. He was born to Funso Banjo, his father, and Danielle Banjo, his mother. His dad is a former heavyweight boxer. He has two siblings, Jordan and Talisa. His present age is 34 as of 2022. His zodiac sign is Libra and he follows the Christianity religion.
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. After winning Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, he 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”. He studied biology at the University of London while competing on Britain’s Got Talent.
Ashley Banjo Career Timeline
- Ashley along with his younger brother Jordan in 2007 formed “Swift Moves” with nine of their friends, before later changing their name to “Diversity”. Together, they won the Street Dance Weekend 2007 competition before they entered Britain’s Got Talent.
- After being selected in the audition round of Britain’s Got Talent, Diversity went on to compete in the first semi-final on 24 May. Diversity lost to the public vote-decided first place to Susan Boyle but won the judges’ vote against Natalie Okri.
- In the final six days later, Diversity was announced as the winners as they beat Boyle and Julian Smith (who came second and third respectively). 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.
- After winning the show, Diversity was nominated in the Dance section of the final South Bank Show awards and won an award at the Pride of Britain Awards.
- Next, he choreographed a tour for Diversity called Limitless which ran from 30 November to 16 December.
- She partnered with detergent brand Persil and TV channel Sky Nature to make a series of short films highlighting environmental action in 2021.
- Surprisingly, he was a judge on Sky1’s dancing talent show Got to Dance for all five series. Diversity appeared as guest performers at least once in every series. They did nine performances on the show in total.
- Back in 2015, he presented Perspectives: “Michael Jackson’s Thriller with Ashley Banjo”. After a year, he co-presented “Can’t Touch This”. Banjo was also a judge on the new ITV series “Dance Dance Dance”, presented by Alesha Dixon and Will Best.
- Banjo has been part of the judging panel on “Dancing on Ice” since January 2018 starting with its tenth series.
- Banjo replaced Cowell for the live semi-final and final shows of the 14th series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2020.
- Likewise, he has been part of the shows “Barrymore”, “StreetDance 3D”, “Got to Dance”, “The Real Hustle”, “The Magicians”, “The Apprentice”, “Text Santa”, “Ashley Banjo’s Secret Street Crew”, “Celebrity Juice”, “The Cube”, “Stella”, “Jordan and Perri’s Ultimate Block Party”, “Ashley Banjo’s Big Town Dance”, “Stars at Your Service”, “This Morning”, “Release the Hounds: Jingle Hell”, “You’re Back in the Room”, “Perspectives Michael Jackson’s Thriller with Ashley Banjo”, “Can’t Touch This”, “The Real Full Monty”, “Catchphrase: Celebrity Special”, “On Christmas Night”, “The Void”, “Ashley Banjo: Britain in Black and White”, “Flirty Dancing”, “A Night for the Emergency Services”.
- Recently, he was seen in the 2022 show “Dance Monsters” as a judge.
Who is Ashley Banjo married to?
Ashley Banjo was a married man. He tied the knot to his beautiful long-time girlfriend, Francesca Abbott, who is a member of another dance troupe called Out of the Shadows. They announced their engagement on 2nd October 2014. After a year, they got married. The duo is blessed with two children, Rose (born 2019) and Micah (born 2020). On December 22, 2022, Ashley Banjo announced that he and his wife Francesca Abbott have split after 16 years together, as they said in a statement that their focus is their kids. His sexual orientation is straight and he is not gay.
The split was announced in a statement on their Instagram accounts, which reads: “After much thought and consideration we both feel now is the time to share some personal news.” “Nearly 18 months ago we took the difficult decision to separate. After being together for over 16 years, since we were teenagers, this is not a decision that has been taken lightly.” “It has not been easy and the processing of the situation has not been fast by any means. But we feel that as we approach the new year it is time to share this news with others.”
“Our main focus will always be our beautiful children. Every decision that has been made is to make sure we can continue as a loving family and give the very best of ourselves as parents.” “Raising Rose and Micah in a healthy and happy environment is the most important thing to both of us.” “Sometimes after so many years people just move in different directions, but we do so lovingly and we continue to try and be both the best parents possible and the best of friends to each other.” “We have always been private with our personal lives, so we kindly ask that everyone please continue to respect that privacy. We won’t be making any further comment on the situation.” The statement finished: “Thank you… Lots of Love Ash and Chess x.”
Ashley is an Official Ambassador of the United Dance Organisation. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to dance.
What is Ashley Banjo Net Worth?
Ashley Banjo is a street dancer, choreographer, and actor whose net worth is estimated to have $2 million as of 2022. His annual salary is thousands of dollars from his professional career as a dancer. His main source of wealth comes from the dancing industry. He received £9,090 winning Britain’s Got Talent. He lives a modest lifestyle at present and he also owns expensive cars. He is satisfied with his earnings.
How tall is Ashley Banjo?
Dancer Ashley Banjo stands at the height of 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) and her body weight consists of 78 Kg or 171.96 lbs. He has got an athletic body type. He has short black hair and her eye color is light brown. He is a fitness freak and he maintains his body a lot.
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