Ashley Banjo has hit back at people claiming he shouldn't be a judge on 'Dancing on Ice'.
Ashley Banjo
The 29-year-old dancer - who is best known for being the leader of the dance troupe Diversity - joined the judging panel on the forthcoming series of the revamped skating show but he has been criticised for not having a background in sport.
However, speaking on 'Lorraine' on Tuesday (02.01.18), Ashley defended himself and said: "The public are really smart and the thing about the British public is they're not going to be voting for the best ice skater but someone who is entertaining. There's so much involved in it musicality, dance, performance that skating is only one element of it. But I do love skating, I've done it since I was small even though I've never done it professionally."
Ashley is set to appear on the judging panel of the ITV show alongside Jason Gardiner, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and said it is "really rounded".
He added: "As a panel it feels really rounded."
Meanwhile, Ashley previously confessed he will laugh if any of the 'Dancing On Ice' contestants fall over.
When it comes to judging the hopefuls, Ashley is on the lookout for people who keep him entertained.
He added: "I'll be the honest one. It's great if they can nail the technical aspects but what I'm looking for is if it can entertain and affect me. I'll either be really easy to please or really hard to please, I'm not sure which."
Some of the contestants on the new series include the likes of 'Coronation Street' stars Antony Cotton and Brooke Vincent, track and field athlete Perri Shakes-Drayton, rugby hunk Max Evans, Jake Quickenden, 'Love Island's Kem Cetinay, 'Great British Bake Off's Candice Brown, Lemar and Bucks Fizz's Cheryl Baker.
Tagged in Jason Gardiner Christopher Dean Jayne Torvill