Ashley Banjo
Ashley Banjo of Diversity takes on the role of a dinner lady in his brand new show 'Ashley Banjo's Big Town Dance'.
The 25-year-old dancer hits the streets of Stockton-on-Tees, north east England, with his dancing troupe Diversity in an attempt to get locals up on their feet and dancing, which led to him trying out various new jobs such as driving a bus and delivering food.
He told BANG Showbiz: "I learnt to drive a bus, I did some of the lunchtime runs at some of the schools as a dinner lady, and I was an ASDA delivery boy for the day.
"People saw that it wasn't just me on camera going, 'I love Stockton,' and then the camera goes off and I'm asking them to get me back to my hotel.
"When they saw how involved me and the boys were that definitely helped people get involved - it definitely helped the response."
Ashley decided to set the show in Stockton because the town is steeped in dancing history and once boasted three dance halls in its heyday, and he is hoping the programme will help to turn the town spirit around and bring back some of the glory days.
He added: "I picked Stockton because I thought it was really important to do it somewhere that had a dance history because that's the main reason we wanted to do it.
"It used to have loads of dance halls and clubs and the main theatre they called The Globe is somewhere where The Beatles and people like that used to play.
"In the north it was a really big dance and entertainment capital and then it all kind of got lost and went away and Stockton became a bit of a dive. That's what everyone saw it as."
'Ashley Banjo's Big Town Dance', starts on Wednesday January 8 at 8pm on Sky1 HD.
Tagged in Diversity