From Mis-Teeq to 'Britain's Got Talent' Judge, Who is Alesha Dixon?

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Alesha Dixon is known for her judging role on Britain’s Got Talent, but what did she do before that? Dixon has showcased her talents in the field of singing, songwriting, dancing, rapping, modeling, TV presenting, and fashion design. Here’s how she got her start.

Dixon was born on October 7, 1978 in Welwyn Garden City, England to Beverly Harris and Melvin Dixon. Her parents split up when she was only four years old. In 2010, Dixon publicly shared that she witnessed her mother suffer from domestic abuse in her younger years. The memory of this never left the celebrity, she created a BBC documentary about domestic abuse from a child’s perspective. The name of this BBC Documentary is Don’t Hit My Mum.

The singer was set to attend Loughborough University to live out her dream of becoming a physical education teacher, but instead was approached by a talent scout during a dance class. Later that evening, she was approached by another talent scout who was looking to form a musical group on her train ride home.

Her Rise to Stardom

After being discovered, she rose to fame in the early 2000’s as apart of the all female R&B/garage trio band The Mis-Teeq. In 2001, the girl group released their first single, “Why.” The single remained unnoticed on the charts until a remix was made. In April of that year the remix charted at No. 8 on the U.K. charts. From there, Mis-Teeq was pretty successful. They released their successful debut album, received a nomination at the BRIT Awards, won the MOBO Award for Best Garage Act and more.

The trio split in 2005, afterward Alesha began her career as a solo artist. To begin her new career she signed a £500,000, three-album deal with Polydor Records. In June 2005, Dixon released her first independent single, “Lipstick.” Upon the August 2006 release “Lipstick” charted at No. 14 on the U.K. Single Charts. Fans of Dixon didn’t see another new song from her until October of 2006. This song is named “Knockdown” and it charted at No. 25 on the U.K. Download Chart. While “Knockdown” did well on the download chart, it didn’t do very well on the Single Chart.

In November 2006 it was announced that Dixon had been dropped from her record label. During this time she also divorced her first husband, Michael Harvey Jr, whom she married in June 2005. In 2007, Dixon joined the cast of Strictly Come Dancing, with partner Matthew Cutler, a professional dancer. She has shared that she was hesitant to take this opportunity, thinking it would affect her career. Instead, Dixon won her season of the series.

Following her win on the popular show she was signed by Asylum Records and released the studio album The Alesha Show.

How Did She Begin on Britain’s Got Talent?

Before Britain’s Got Talent, Dixon replaced Arlene Phillips as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing. The network received criticism for their choice of Dixon on the panel, but BBC was “delighted” with her as a judge. Outside of Strictly Come Dancing, Dixon still worked on new music.

On January 2, 2012 the singer announced her departure from Strictly Come Dancing. Later that year, Dixon joined the Britain’s Got Talent judging panel alongside Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and David Walliams. To this day she still sits on the judging panel. Other than Britain’s Got Talent, she’s recently judged, America’s Got Talent: The Champions in 2020, Walk The Line and Australia’s Got Talent in 2021.

On top of her judging career, Dixon is also known for her presenting. As a television presenter, she was seen at The MOBO Awards, The Brit Awards and Live from the Red Carpet Show at the 62nd British Academy Film Awards as well as numerous other prestigious award shows, talent hunts, and reality TV shows. In addition she has contributed to and supported many philanthropic causes.

What is Her Relationship Status?

After divorcing Michael Harvey Jr due to his affair with singer/songwriter Javine Hylton, Dixon stayed single for a while. In 2017 the singer secretly married professional dancer Azuka Ononye. The couple first met when Dixon was touring, but she knew he was the real deal when he supported her when she broke her foot. The singer noted that he would stay with her during her recovery period, often sleeping on the floor so she could take the couch.

The couple had their first child, Azure Sienna Ononye, together in 2013. In 2019 Dixon announced her second pregnancy in a memorable way, on live television! She first announced her pregnancy with second child, Anaya Safiya, on Britain’s Got Talent. To this day, Dixon and Ononye are still happily married.

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