Interview with Diversity's Ashley Banjo about why he's taking part in ITV's The Real Full Monty


ASHLEY BANJO Choreographer and Co-Host

What encouraged you to get involved in this project?
For me, it was hearing about what the programme was about and the reasons behind it - to raise awareness for male cancers. It’s not often that I get a call saying would you come and do something for a good cause and it’s what you’re good at and what you love and the chance to meet new people and push yourself out of your comfort zone. So it was tick, tick, tick, tick. It was something different but at the same time doing something that I love (choreography) and raising awareness for a great cause, so I couldn’t say no.

How challenging was it to choreograph a strip routine compared to a dance routine?
It was just a case of thinking - I need to put on a performance where these guys are taking off their clothes. The difficulty was more getting the guys to do it, coaching them through that personal experience, making it happen really because I’ve never had to take a group from nothing to being ready to perform whilst getting over so many personal hurdles, so that was quite tough. The guys are all such different ages and come from such different backgrounds, I didn’t quite know what to expect, so it’s been an interesting process to get to know the guys and taking them through it.

Did you have any moments of panic when you thought the guys would back out once they got on stage?
Yes, definitely. I panicked a few times. It was hard enough getting people in the first place, but there were quite a few moments where I didn’t think we were going to have a group ready. But they have proved me wrong! 

Any favourite, funny moments from filming so far?
I think it was when we tried the strip in rehearsals for the first time on stage and Wayne’s trousers... Wayne’s legs are so short and his trousers were so long, he had six inches left over at the ankle, so they all ripped the trousers off and threw them into the audience and then the hats were being thrown and Wayne was still at the front of the stage trying to rip his trousers off 30 seconds later. He didn’t realise they wouldn’t come off because he was standing on them! It was a brilliant, brilliant moment.


How did you keep a straight face in the supermarket sequence?
The supermarket was a really funny day, talk about being in a situation you never thought you would be in! In the back of my mind the whole time I was just thinking, I hope this works, because it was about bonding the group and getting them more confident. It was about getting them dancing in public, making them smile, jumping one of the hurdles that gets in the way. But they absolutely nailed it.

How do you think the guys are feeling about getting on stage at the Palladium? What will your final words of encouragement be to them?
I think that everyone’s going to be nervous, however much you are confident and you feel like you can do the routine, the reality of standing in front of 2000 people and having to throw that hat away at the end, it’s scary. But I’ve got faith in every one of them and I’ll just be telling them to do what they’ve done 20 times in rehearsal and do it with gusto and confidence. I do feel like the project is a failure or a success in what they do on that final stage, even though they’ve put everything in and everyone’s going to respect that, but whether it has the impact of people all talking about it afterwards, depends on what they do on that stage.

What do you hope the outcome of the documentary will be?
I just think even if we end up saving one life, it’s been worth it, even though it might sound cliché. If men take notice and even boys end up saying to their dads, ‘you should get a check’, and more people are talking about it because we have helped to ease the embarrassment of opening up a conversation, then that is mission complete. And if one, two, three, or even a hundred people go and get checked as a result, that’s all we can ever hope for. This is a disease that effects so many people and sometimes there aren’t even any symptoms. Look at Dom’s story, he’s been cured from prostate cancer and it was pure fluke (that it was diagnosed), he didn’t even have any symptoms, so hopefully this programme will create more fluke and get people checked.

Are you a fan of the original film?
I loved it. I was studying media at school and it was the film I chose to study and write up and study the shots. People don’t tend to think of The Full Monty performance as an iconic dance routine, but when you think about Footloose, Flashdance, Chorus Line...you think of them as dance movies. But actually the end of this movie is one of the most iconic performances in British movie history. You say The Full Monty and everyone can picture the guys doing it, so for me I found that really fascinating and I was really excited to be a part of re-creating it, 20 years on. 

TX: Thursday 15 June at 8.30pm on ITV

June 7, 2017 5:18am ET by ITV Press Centre  

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