The dance troupe rose to fame after competing in Britain’s Got Talent in 2009. Members Jordan and Ashley Banjo and Perri Kiely did particularly well out of it, landing multiple hosting gigs since. They’ll all be performing on Children in Need tonight, but where has Diversity been since their BGT stint?
After they beat the odds to win against Susan Boyle in 2009, Diversity performed at the Royal Variety Show. Quickly becoming one of the most popular dance troupes in the UK, we take a look at what has happened to Diversity since.
Where Have Diversity Been?
After winning Britain’s Got Talent, the group went on The Live Tour in 2009 with other BGT acts. In the same year, they became patrons of Dance Aid and had several performances such as T4 At The Beach and Wireless Festival.
In 2010, Ashley Banjo appeared as a judge on the Sky series, Got To Dance for all of its 5 series. Diversity performed at least once in each series.
Also in 2010, the dance troupe partnered with Change4Life to promote street dancing as a way of getting kids and families more active. They sen set off on the first tour separate from Britain’s Got Talent which sold out in 24 hours. More dates had to be added to keep up with the demand. Fellow BGT alumni Suga-Free and Aidan Davies came on the tour with them where they all performed as toys that had come to life.
The end of the year saw them in multiple adverts, most notably with The Range who used the tagline “if you like Diversity, you’ll love The Range.'”
Since then, the group have been on 4 tours, their last in 2017.
Ashley Banjo
Ashley is the group’s leader and choreographer and is one of the members of Diversity to have great individual success. Not only did he judge on Got To Dance, but also on ITV’s Dance Dance Dance. Since 2018 has also been a judge on Dancing on Ice.
The 34-year-old replaced Simon Cowell, who had suffered an injury, during the live shows of the 2020 series of Britain’s Got Talent. It was at this time that Diversity performed their critically acclaimed performance in response to the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd.
The unforgettable performance was talked about for weeks and saw the group discuss it on multiple talk shows.
As well as judging, Ashley has also had multiple presenting gigs. In 2015, he presented Perspectives: Michael Jackson’s Thriller with Ashley Banjo. With Zoe Ball, he presented the game show Can’t Touch This which only ran for one series.
As their leader, wherever Diversity has been, Ashley has always been there too.
Jordan Banjo
Jordan is Ashley’s younger brother and has had fame of his own. He and Perri Kiely were the backstage presenter on Got To Dance and currently co-host the KISS weekly breakfast show. The pair were also the UK hosts for the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards from 2014-2016.
In November 2016 he was announced as part of the lineup for I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here. Jordan was the fourth to be voted out. The series was won by Scarlett Moffatt, with Joel Dommett coming second.
Since then, he has been the backstage digital presenter on Dancing on Ice and a co-host with Alesha Dixon for The Greatest Dancer. Last year, he was on The Masked Dancer as viper who was revealed first.
Earlier this year the star got married and had lots of the Diversity group in attendance. A few weeks later he announce that he and his wife were expecting their third child together.
How Old Is Perri From Diversity Now?
Whenever we think of Perri Kiely, we all see the little boy with massive hair who performed on BGT back in 2007. Although he was 12 at the time, Perri is now 26 years old and has had just as much fame as the Banjo brothers.
The dancing star was a contestant on the second series of Splash in 2014 where he won against Richard Whitehead. However, that’s not all he has featured on. Perri was on Dancing On Ice in 2020 where he finished as a runner-up to Joe Swash and was also on Celebs Go Dating.
In 2018, he won his round of The Great Stand Up To Cancer Bake Off.
As well as all this, he has also had all his joint hosting gigs with Jordan Banjo.
A New Diversity Tour Is Coming
Diversity will be touring again in 2023 and 2024, with 64 dates across the UK. With multiple shows in the same city and dozens of cities lined up, now is the chance to get your tickets if you want to see them on tour.
Ashley, Jordan and Perri will be on the tour, as well as the other members of the dance troupe are offering VIP packages with meet-and-greet options, or getting the best seat in the house.
Tickets are available to buy now.
Diversity will be performing on Children In Need. The appeal show is on tonight, November 18 and begins at 7 pm on BBC.