Alesha Anjanette Dixon was born on 7 October 1978 and is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author.
81 Facts About Alesha Dixon
2.
The group disbanded in 2005 and Dixon then pursued a music career as a solo artist, signing a recording contract with Polydor Records.
3.
Alesha Dixon recorded her debut solo album, Fired Up in 2006, releasing her debut single "Lipstick", followed by "Knockdown", after which her popularity as a singer had declined and was dropped from Polydor.
4.
In 2007, Alesha Dixon won the fifth series of the BBC One dancing competition show Strictly Come Dancing.
5.
In 2008, she released her second album, The Alesha Dixon Show, which received platinum certification in the UK and spawned 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.
6.
In 2009, Alesha Dixon became a judge on the seventh series of Strictly Come Dancing, and the following year, she released her third album, The Entertainer.
7.
In 2012, shortly after judging on the ninth series of Strictly Come Dancing, Alesha Dixon quit to become a judge on the ITV talent show competition Britain's Got Talent.
8.
In 2020, Alesha Dixon was a judge on America's Got Talent: The Champions, and in 2021, she was a judge on Walk the Line.
9.
Alesha Dixon has written a series of children's books titled Lightning Girl.
10.
Alesha Anjanette Dixon was born on 7 October 1978 in Welwyn Garden City to a Jamaican father, Melvin Dixon, and English mother, Beverly Harris.
11.
Alesha Dixon was educated at Monk's Walk School, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.
12.
Alesha Dixon's parents separated when she was four and her father moved away, resulting in her later describing her family life as "very dysfunctional".
13.
Between the ages of eight and ten, Alesha Dixon witnessed her mother suffer domestic violence from her partner; she only spoke publicly about the issue 21 years later, in 2010.
14.
Alesha Dixon's career began in 1999 when she met Sabrina Washington as they both joined a dance school in Fulham, south west London.
15.
The last song Alesha Dixon recorded with Mis-Teeq was "Shoo Shoo Baby" for the Disney film Valiant.
16.
Alesha Dixon, discussing her thoughts on being dropped by her record label, Polydor.
17.
Alesha Dixon 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.
18.
Alesha Dixon released her second single "Knockdown" on 30 October 2006, which charted at 25 on the UK Download Chart.
19.
On 6 November 2006, it was revealed that Alesha Dixon had been dropped by her label, Polydor Records.
20.
Alesha Dixon took part in series 5 of TV show Strictly Come Dancing in 2007, partnered with professional dancer Matthew Cutler.
21.
Alesha Dixon was at first hesitant to join, fearing that snobbery within the music industry would damage her career.
22.
Alesha Dixon herself gained high appraisal from the judges, even being likened to a "young Josephine Baker" by Bruno Tonioli.
23.
Alesha Dixon chose to sign a four-album contract with Asylum Records in 2008.
24.
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.
25.
The second single from The Alesha Dixon Show was "Breathe Slow" and entered the UK Singles Chart at number thirty-nine solely on download sales.
26.
The song's presence in the charts boosted album sales and The Alesha Dixon Show rebounded at a new peak of 11.
27.
The fourth single from The Alesha Dixon Show, called "To Love Again" was released on 15 November 2009.
28.
Dixon embarked upon a 17-date national tour, named The Alesha Show, which began on 20 October 2009 in Nottingham.
29.
Dixon, having a conflicting schedule had to rearrange three dates on her upcoming tour, The Alesha Show to do the show, which is broadcast live on Saturday nights.
30.
Alesha Dixon's judging debut was met by criticism by some viewers, and 272 complaints were received by the BBC, according to The Guardian.
31.
In early 2010, Alesha Dixon began work on her third studio album, The Entertainer, which she intended to release during the summer.
32.
Alesha Dixon wrote and released a new track "Do It Our Way" for the New Year Weight Watchers campaign which featured in new advertisements for the organisation.
33.
Michael Hogan, of The Daily Telegraph, pointed out that "if rumours are to be believed, Alesha Dixon has more than tripled her salary by defecting to the commercial channel", a point made by various other sources.
34.
In September 2012, it was announced that Alesha Dixon would be collaborating with former So Solid Crew rapper Ashley Walters on his new song "Your Love".
35.
Alesha Dixon said she would put her fourth album on hold and concentrate on motherhood.
36.
In December 2014, Alesha Dixon announced that she would be releasing a new single in either March or May 2015.
37.
Alesha Dixon was criticised for forgetting the words to "God Save the Queen" when performing a solo at the July 2015 British Grand Prix.
38.
In 2016, Alesha Dixon made a cameo appearance in the 2016 film Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
39.
Alesha Dixon stepped in for a third time at the second live show on 29 October 2017, this time replacing Cowell.
40.
On 26 September 2019, it was announced that Alesha Dixon would be joining the judging panel for season two of America's Got Talent: The Champions.
41.
On 13 June 2021, it was announced that Alesha Dixon would be a judge on the tenth season of Australia's Got Talent.
42.
On 4 November 2021, Alesha Dixon appeared as a guest judge on the third series of the BBC drag competition series, RuPaul's Drag Race UK.
43.
Alesha Dixon co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool alongside Julia Sanina and Hannah Waddingham with Graham Norton joining them for the final.
44.
However, when she began her solo career her first UK album, The Alesha Show, saw Dixon undergo a genre-shift.
45.
Alesha Dixon commented that the record consisted of "a lot more guitar-written songs with pop produced around it".
46.
Alesha Dixon's single "Let's Get Excited" namechecked the singer and her 1985 single "Into the Groove".
47.
Furthermore, the music video featured what Alesha Dixon described as "a Madonna tribute" featuring voguing throughout.
48.
Additionally, Alesha Dixon has described Kylie Minogue as her childhood idol.
49.
Alesha Dixon has named Neneh Cherry as great influence upon her.
50.
Cherry, a mixed-race singer, inspired her from an early age, with Alesha Dixon saying, "I remember seeing Neneh Cherry on the TV when I was little and turning to my mum and saying, 'Mummy, she looks like me'".
51.
Alesha Dixon has described herself and other celebrities as having a "moral responsibility" to do good works, when asked by The Observers Elizabeth Day.
52.
In 2009, Alesha Dixon climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for Comic Relief with Girls Aloud members Cheryl Cole and Kimberley Walsh, Ben Shephard, Ronan Keating, Fearne Cotton, Denise Van Outen, Chris Moyles and Gary Barlow, who had spearheaded the project.
53.
In June 2009 Alesha Dixon became an official ambassador for the charity Help a London Child, stating that she felt "very honoured" to be asked.
54.
Alesha Dixon is a patron of the African-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust which is a voluntary charity, whose main aim is to increase the number of Black and Mixed Parentage people on the UK Bone Marrow Register.
55.
Alesha Dixon has backed Nickelodeon's See Something, Say Something campaign, a UK anti-bullying initiative.
56.
Alesha Dixon is engaged with various animal rights organisations and is a pescetarian.
57.
Alesha Dixon is Vice-President of the League Against Cruel Sports, a charity which works to end cruelty to animals in the name of sport and featured in a charity appeal due to concerns that the Hunting Act 2004 could be repealed.
58.
In 2012, Alesha Dixon travelled to Romania with World Animal Protection to rescue two brown bears from Onesti Zoo, which had closed years previously.
59.
In 2014, Alesha Dixon encouraged her Twitter followers to sign an online petition calling for the ban of slaughtering animals without being stunned first.
60.
Alesha Dixon is a supporter of the PetRetreat scheme launched by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
61.
In March 2013 Alesha Dixon led a walk down Westminster Bridge to the Houses of Parliament to raise awareness of domestic violence.
62.
Alesha Dixon has worked with several LGBT charities in the past, including Switchboard and RUComingOut.
63.
Alesha Dixon has spoken out in support of same-sex marriage, gender equality, as well as a need for greater support of trans individuals, and those questioning their gender identity.
64.
In September 2020, Alesha Dixon wore a necklace that spelt out "BLM" on an episode of Britain's Got Talent, in reference to the Black Lives Matter movement.
65.
Alesha Dixon's actions were seen as her showing her solidarity with the dance troupe Diversity, who had the previous week performed a routine referencing the murder of George Floyd, which had similarly prompted complaints.
66.
In November 2009 Alesha Dixon announced the release of her jewellery line, and in January 2014 she launched her own fragrance, Rose Quartz.
67.
Alesha Dixon has represented various brands, including car manufacturers Ford, the Toblerone chocolate bar, cosmetics company Avon and airline Thomson Airways.
68.
Additionally, Alesha Dixon was creative director of gym chain LA Fitness, a role which she assumed in 2009.
69.
Alesha Dixon signed a four-year results-based deal with the gym chain, with her remuneration based on the success of the company.
70.
Alesha Dixon voiced the character of Bliss on the 2016 version of Powerpuff Girls.
71.
Alesha Dixon has been a guest on BBC One's current affairs programme This Week on two occasions, in November 2006 and December 2007.
72.
In 2008, Dixon presented her own mini-documentary entitled Alesha: Look But Don't Touch, which was first aired on BBC Three and featured a guest appearance from Cheryl Cole.
73.
In 2009, it was reported that Alesha Dixon was in talks with television companies about a possible chatshow.
74.
Alesha Dixon returned to present the telethon in 2011 with Daly, Wogan and Fearne Cotton.
75.
In March 2010, Alesha Dixon co-presented the Mister World 2010 pageant in Incheon, Korea.
76.
Since 22 August 2011, Dixon presented a street-dance competition for CBBC called Alesha's Street Dance Stars.
77.
Alesha Dixon has appeared in the CBBC series 12 Again.
78.
On 17 May 2013, Alesha Dixon was a guest presenter on ITV Breakfast magazine show Lorraine.
79.
In 2014 and 2015, Alesha Dixon co-presented segments of ITV's Text Santa telethon.
80.
In 2017, Alesha Dixon co-presented Dance Dance Dance, a six-part reality series for ITV alongside Will Best.
81.
In 2019, Alesha Dixon co-hosted BBC's Saturday night show The Greatest Dancer.