Background and career
Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper and television personality. She gained recognition in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B and garage group Mis-Teeq, who had seven consecutive UK top 10 singles, two top 10 double platinum albums, and sold over 12 million records worldwide. After Mis-Teeq disbanded in 2005, Dixon signed with Polydor Records to release her debut solo album, Fired Up (2006); due to insufficient commercial reception from its lead singles, "Lipstick" and "Knockdown", she was dropped from Polydor. She then signed with Asylum Records to release her second album, The Alesha Show (2008), which was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and produced the successful singles "The Boy Does Nothing" and "Breathe Slow", the latter of which became her highest charting single and earned her a Brit Award nomination. She went on to release the albums The Entertainer (2010) and Do It for Love (2015). In 2007, Dixon won the fifth series of the BBC One dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing, and subsequently served as a judge on the programme from 2009 to 2012. Since 2012, she has served as a judge on the ITV talent competition Britain's Got Talent. She has also judged on America's Got Talent: The Champions (2020), Walk the Line (2021), and Australia's Got Talent (2022). As a television presenter, Dixon has hosted Alesha's Street Dance Stars (2010), Your Face Sounds Familiar (2013), Text Santa (2014–2015), Dance Dance Dance (2017), The Greatest Dancer (2019–2020), Comic Relief (2019–2025), and the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.
Alesha Anjanette Dixon was born on 7 October 1978 in Welwyn Garden City to a Jamaican father, Melvin Dixon, and English mother, Beverly Harris. Dixon has six half-siblings. She was educated at Monk's Walk School in Welwyn. Dixon's parents separated when she was four and her father moved away; she has described 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 at dance classes in London she was approached by a talent scout from a production company. While travelling back home on the train she was approached by another scout who was forming a group and asked if she was interested.
Dixon's career began in 1999 when she met Sabrina Washington as they both joined a dance school in Fulham, south west London. Together, they decided to form a group when Dixon and Washington, the two co-founders, spotted Su-Elise Nash, a girl auditioning for another group. Dixon and Washington proposed that Nash join the group and together they formed a trio. They were soon signed to Telstar Records with the addition of a new member, Zena McNally, and became the UK garage/R&B girl group, Mis-Teeq. In October 2000, Dixon, then relatively unknown, featured on the single "Rumours" by Damage, which charted modestly at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. The genre of the track departed from the group's R&B style, in favour of a garage-based sound, however, the tepid reaction from fans ensured Damage did not venture further into garage. In January 2001, Mis-Teeq released their first single, "Why". The track remained commercially unnoticed until a garage remix was produced and the track charted at number 8 in January of that year. Two separate music videos for the song were filmed, accompanying the different versions of the song. The song's success coincided with Zena McNally's departure; McNally later alleged that friction between herself and Washington was a factor. Mis-Teeq, continuing as a trio, then released "All I Want", which charted even more successfully at number 2, behind Shaggy's "Angel". In October 2001, they released their debut album Lickin' On Both Sides, featuring hits "One Night Stand", "B with Me" and double A-side single "Roll On/This Is How We Do It". In 2002, Mis-Teeq performed and received a nomination at the BRIT Awards in Earls Court, later in the year band won the MOBO Award for Best Garage Act. After the success of their debut album, 2003 saw Mis-Teeq becoming the faces of JD Sports stores nationwide. In 2003, Mis-Teeq released their second album Eye Candy, which included the singles "Scandalous", "Can't Get It Back" and "Style". In 2004, Mis-Teeq toured the United States and released their debut single "Scandalous" from their American self-titled debut, a compilation of the albums Lickin' On Both Sides and Eye Candy. In 2004, Dixon went to feature in the N.E.R.D music video "She Wants to Move". In the video, she is shown dancing on a podium whilst the group circled her. It was also rumoured that she was dating Pharrell Williams around the time of the video. The last song Dixon recorded with Mis-Teeq was "Shoo-Shoo Baby" for the Disney film Valiant. In March 2005, their Greatest Hits compilation was released and it was announced that they were separating to pursue solo careers. Dixon married Michael Harvey Jr in June 2005. In November 2006, the couple divorced following Harvey's affair with singer Javine Hylton.
Dixon launched her solo career after Mis-Teeq's break-up and signed a £500,000, three-album deal with Polydor Records. She spent a year writing and recording her solo debut album, Fired Up, working with a wide range of producers including Richard X, Xenomania, Johnny Douglas, Brian Higgins, Estelle and Paul Epworth. During this period, Dixon performed mononymously, known simply as "Alesha". In June 2005, she announced her first solo single to be "Superficial". However, at the last minute, the song "Lipstick" was chosen as the first single. "Lipstick" was released on 14 August 2006, and charted at 14 on the UK Single Charts. Dixon released her second single "Knockdown" on 30 October 2006, which charted at 25 on the UK Download Chart. However, on the official UK Singles Charts, the single peaked at number 45, falling down to 68 the following week. On 6 November 2006, it was revealed that Dixon had been dropped by her label, Polydor Records. Polydor gave her full rights to her unreleased debut album, Fired Up. Coinciding with her professional troubles was the collapse of her marriage to Harvey; Dixon filed for divorce just over a year after her wedding due to her husband's affair with Javine Hylton. Dixon took part in series 5 of TV show Strictly Come Dancing in 2007, partnered with professional dancer Matthew Cutler. Dixon was at first hesitant to join, fearing that snobbery within the music industry would damage her career. In a later interview, she said, "there's always this preconceived idea that people do reality TV shows because they want to kick-start their careers whereas I was actually worried that it would affect it." They had been the favourite from the third week, receiving the most points from the judges on numerous occasions. Dixon herself gained high appraisal from the judges, even being likened to a "young Josephine Baker" by Bruno Tonioli. They received 4.5 million votes in the final, beating actor Matt Di Angelo and professional dancer Flavia Cacace to win the glitter disco ball.
After she won Strictly Come Dancing, Dixon soon became the centre of a bidding war between record labels and even Polydor Records, the label that had dropped her months previously, put in an offer. Dixon, however, chose to sign a four-album contract with Asylum Records in 2008. Dixon's first new album as part of her contract, The Alesha Show was released in the UK on 24 November 2008 and 21 November in Ireland. The official first single from the album, "The Boy Does Nothing" became her first solo top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart, following a 76 spot jump from 84 to 8 on the UK Singles Chart on downloads alone; the single eventually peaked at number 5 and received Gold certification. The song also became a commercial success in continental Europe and peaked in the top ten on the Australian Singles Chart. The single sold 1,000,000 copies worldwide. The second single from The Alesha Show was "Breathe Slow" and entered the UK Singles Chart at number thirty-nine solely on download sales. The single rose for three weeks before breaking into the top ten at number six, giving Dixon her second top ten hit in the UK from downloads alone, and eventually peaked at number 3 on the Top 40 UK Charts, becoming Dixon's highest charting single on the UK Singles Chart. "Breathe Slow" was certified Silver in the UK for sales exceeding 200,000. The third single from The Alesha Show, titled "Let's Get Excited" was physically released on 11 May and reached a peak position of 13 in the UK Singles Chart. "Let's Get Excited" became Dixon's first track from The Alesha Show not to chart inside the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. The song's presence in the charts boosted album sales and The Alesha Show rebounded at a new peak of 11. The album received Platinum certification from BPI, indicating sales of over 300,000 in the UK alone. The fourth single from The Alesha Show, called "To Love Again" was released on 15 November 2009. The track, a ballad penned by Dixon and Gary Barlow, was the first single taken from the deluxe version, entitled The Alesha Show – Encore, released on 23 November. Dixon also embarked upon a 17-date national tour, named The Alesha Show, which began on 20 October 2009 in Nottingham. It was revealed in July 2009 that Dixon would be joining the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel in September 2009. She replaced Arlene Phillips, which led to the BBC being accused of ageism and sexism by the media. Dixon, having a conflicting schedule also had to rearrange three dates on her upcoming tour, The Alesha Show to do the show, which is broadcast live on Saturday nights. Dixon's judging debut was met by criticism by some viewers, and 272 complaints were received by the BBC, according to The Guardian. Despite the complaints, the BBC stated they were "delighted" with Dixon.
In early 2010, Dixon began work on her third studio album, The Entertainer, which she intended to release during the summer. On 15 March Dixon flew to Denmark to begin recording with Soulshock & Karlin, the producers of Dixon's "Breathe Slow". Dixon's fan site later reported that Dixon had secured a recording session with Rodney Jerkins, a record producer who has produced records for Michael Jackson's final studio album Invincible and most recently produced Lady Gaga and Beyoncé's "Telephone". On 16 June, Dixon revealed on a post on her fansite that the upcoming album would be called Unleashed, and on 30 June her fansite president revealed the lead single is a track called "Drummer Boy", produced by Haitian-American producer, Shama Joseph, or "ShamRock". On 5 August it was revealed that Dixon had decided to change the album name from Unleashed to The Entertainer. "Drummer Boy", released in August, charted moderately at 15 on the UK Singles Chart. On 16 September, it was announced that Dixon had collaborated with Roll Deep and featured in the band's single "Take Control". The track appeared on both Roll Deep's album—Winner Stays On—and The Entertainer. "Radio", billed as The Entertainer's second single, charted poorly upon release in November 2010, failing to reach the Top 40. The single's release coincided with the release of the album, which too made little commercial impact; a year later it was noted that the album had sold 60,000 copies. Acknowledging the album's lack of commercial success, Dixon said she would always prefer to "take a chance creatively" than release what she perceived to be stultifying records. She commented: "I knew the single 'Drummer Boy' was a risk. It was a very difficult record and so far removed from anything I'd done before. I get that ... I take full responsibility for that, but I'm glad I did it. I'd rather make a unique record like 'Drummer Boy' and have it fail than play it safe and release bland, generic music that doesn't excite me."
