Dance group Diversity take the knee during Britain’s Got Talent semi-finals

Dance group Diversity have taken the knee during a performance at the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent.

Dancer Ashley Banjo said he stood by their use of the symbolic gesture against racism, which is linked to the Black Lives Matter movement.

It is not the first time Diversity has taken the knee at Britain’s Got Talent.

In 2020, the group’s Black Lives Matter-inspired performance sparked 21,000 complaints to Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator.

Diversity, who won the contest in 2009, had taken to the stage with a politically-charged routine during a semi-final, which showed a white police officer kneeling on Banjo’s neck in a moment that echoed the killing of unarmed black man – George Floyd – in the US.

After a night of electrifying performances, singer Tom Ball and comedian Eva Abley have made it to the final on Sunday.

Ball was put straight through after receiving the most audience votes.

He impressed the audience and judges in the auditions with his rendition of Sam Smith’s Writing’s On The Wall.

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Abley, who has cerebral palsy, went head-to-head with Japanese magician Keiichi Iwasaki and judges David Walliams, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden all voted to put her through.

Impressionist Ben Nickless and musical duo Flintz and Taylor previously secured their place in the final after their performances during last night’s semi-final.

Busker Maxwell Thorpe and 13-year-old ventriloquist Jamie Leahey made it through during Monday’s show.