Alesha Dixon -

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Alesha Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is a British singer, dancer, rapper,

model and television presenter from Welwyn Garden City, England. She found fame in the all-female R&B/garage trio Mis-Teeq. The trio disbanded in 2005 and Dixon pursued a music career as a solo artist, signing to Polydor Records. She began recording her debut solo album, Fired Up, in 2006, but due to poor record sales of her first two singles, “Lipstick” and “Knockdown”, she was dropped from Polydor.

Alesha Anjanette Dixon was born in Welwyn Garden City to a Jamaican father, Melvin, and English mother, Beverly Harris. Dixon has six half-siblings. Maternally, she has two half-brothers, and on her father’s side, she has three half-brothers and a half-sister.

She was educated at Monk’s Walk School, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Dixon’s parents split up when Dixon was four and Dixon’s father moved away, resulting in Dixon later describing her family life as “very dysfunctional”.Between the ages of eight and ten, Dixon witnessed her mother suffer domestic violence from her partner;she only spoke publicly about the issue 21 years later, in 2010. Dixon created a documentary for the BBC, Don’t Hit My Mum, regarding the issue of domestic abuse from a child’s perspective, and remarked upon her own childhood: “When I think about that time, I don’t remember living in harmony, I don’t remember any fun times, I suppose because the negativity has clouded it. The negative times and the scary times have blocked anything that was good … I believe that every child has the right to grow up in an environment where they feel secure and fearless going into the world, and I didn’t really feel that”.

Dixon’s first job was at Ladbrokes, although she aspired to become a PE teacher after leaving college. After completing a diploma course in sports studies,she had planned to take up a place at Loughborough University,but whilst at dance classes in London she was approached by a talent scout from a production company. Whilst travelling back home on the train she was approached by another scout who was forming a band and asked if she was interested.

In 2007, Dixon won Strictly Come Dancing. Her television exposure led to a successful comeback, which included her signing to Asylum Records, an offshoot of Warner Music Group. Dixon then released a second album, entitled The Alesha Show, in 2008, which received platinum certification from BPI in the UK and spawned four singles including “The Boy Does Nothing” and “Breathe Slow”, the latter of which became her highest charting single and earned her a Brit Award nomination.

In September 2009, Dixon became a judge on the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing, replacing Arlene Phillips. The replacement of Phillips by Dixon attracted criticism, as some questioned the extent of Dixon’s dancing knowledge. In 2010, Dixon returned for the eighth series of Strictly Come Dancing and released her third studio album, The Entertainer. In January 2012, shortly after completing the ninth series and her third year as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, Dixon quit to become a judge on Britain’s Got Talent.

As a television presenter, she has hosted Your Face Sounds Familiar (2013), Text Santa (2014–15) and Dance Dance Dance (2017–present).