page_title: Alesha Dixon
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Alesha Dixon / Biography / Early life
caption_attribution_description: English: The Coronation Fountain, Parkway, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, toward the north west
context_page_description: Alesha Anjanette Dixon is an English singer, rapper, songwriter, dancer, author, model and television personality. Dixon rose to fame in 2001 as a member of the all-female R&B/garage/rap trio Mis-Teeq. The group disbanded in 2005 and Dixon pursued a music career as a solo artist, signing a recording contract to Polydor Records. She began recording her debut solo studio album, Fired Up, in 2005, releasing her debut single "Lipstick", followed by "Knockdown", after which she was dropped from Polydor.
  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.
context_section_description: Alesha Anjanette Dixon was born in Welwyn Garden City to a Jamaican father, Melvin, and English mother, Beverly Harris. Dixon has six half-siblings.
  She was educated at Monk's Walk School, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Dixon's parents separated when she was four and her father moved away, resulting in her 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 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.
caption: Alesha Dixon grew up in the town of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.
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