Ant McPartlin's horror BGT accident exposed by Ashley Banjo as 'cameras were cut'

3 days ago 4

Ashley Banjo has shared a hilarious Ant and Dec moment that you didn't see on TV.

The 36-year-old Dancing on Ice judge met the Britain's Got Talent hosts back in 2009, when his dance troupe Diversity won the ITV hit. He's been mates with them ever since and has now revealed what happened right after poor Ant fell flat on his back while hosting the show.

Ant and Dec were dancing on stage with Ashley and the Diversity crew during the live semi-finals in 2021. Ant attempted a risky move with Dec, but ended up slipping over on stage and badly hurting himself.

READ MORE: Ant and Dec's off-screen antics exposed as BGT icon makes surprise confession

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Luckily, it was Ashley to the rescue, rushing over to help Ant back to his feet after the accident. But it's safe to say everyone was in stitches at Ant's blunder, and it turns out Dec couldn't stop laughing - even after they cut to the break.

Ashley, who has partnered with Sky TV on Sky's voice control campaign, spoke exclusively to Daily Star about the aftermath of Ant's fall. He said: "I do think my favourite Ant and Dec story is just Ant falling flat on his back [BGT live semi-finals].

"The funny bit about that was when we cut to the break, he was in pain and Dec was in hysterics. I could not breathe for laughing! I think that for me is still my favourite Ant and Dec story."

Ashley admitted the Geordie duo have to "reign it in" with the banter when they're on-air, but they're prone to laughing fits. He said: "When Ant and Dec start laughing, people notice about them on camera but they've still got like a time to hit or a link to do, so they kind of reign it in. When they're off camera, when they can't stop laughing, it's so infectious."

Ashley was full of praise for the Geordie duo, who are back hosting ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. He said: "I feel like Ant and Dec are just legendary. Honestly, I think they are masterful, they're such good guys. Been able to support a couple of the things that we've done over the years."

Ant and Dec are quick to poke fun at their pop career as PJ and Duncan, but they've also danced with Diversity on several occasions, including on Britain's Got Talent. And it seems Ashley thinks they've been very modest about their dancing skills as he reckons they're good enough to be members of Diversity.

"We've danced with them [Ant and Dec] quite a few times now. Honestly, they could be in Diversity, I'm not even joking. We know how good performers they are but they're really good dancers, too."

After the fall, Ant himself said: "If you didn't catch that on telly, it was quite a heavy fall!". When Dec Donnelly asked if he was Okay, he replied: "I don't know if I am okay", adding: "I think I wet myself and farted at the same time."

Diversity stars Ashley and Jordan Banjo have teamed up with Sky to recreate some of TV's most iconic phrases in the last year. Sky has revealed a list of the most memorable TV quotes and added a selection into Sky TV's voice control glossary, so viewers can access their favourite programmes by quoting lines from the shows.

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Ashley said of Sky's voice command campaign: "We were part of such a big wave of television with the competition shows like Got Talent and The X Factor era, so obviously when we were asked to take part in something that represented iconic phrases and TV moments it just felt like fun. We just think it's a great campaign and it represents telly in a really fun way, so we were sold."

Asked which TV quote he thought should be added to the glossary, he chose Simon Cowell's iconic way of putting BGT acts through to the next round - "you've got four yeses".

Top 10 Most Iconic TV Phrases of the Year:

(October 2023-2024)

1. Gladiators ready – Gladiators 2024 (19%)

2. I am a Faithful – Traitors (15%)

3. Sent from iPhone - Baby Reindeer (14%)

4. Give Over! – Brassic (12%)

5. Be honest – Beckham (12%)

6. I think I love you - Love is Blind (10%)

7. Yes Chef! - The Bear (9%)

8. I’m the daddy - I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (9%)

9. Dearest gentle reader – Bridgerton (8%)

10. No war so bloody as a war between dragons - House of the Dragon (7%)