Alesha Dixon is celebrating her 44th birthday today.
Rising to fame as a member of the British girl group Mis-Teeq, Alesha was just a teenager when she stepped into the spotlight.
Since then, the singer has had some huge achievements in her lifetime, from establishing a successful career in music and TV, to publishing a range of children’s books and going on to create a beautiful family.
But her success didn’t come without its hardships, and the singer went through some pretty tough times early into her solo career.
Here’s everything you need to know about Alesha’s heartbreaking split from her first husband after just a year, and how Strictly Come Dancing helped her to heal.
How many husbands has Alesha Dixon had?
(Image: Myung Jung Kim/PA Photos)
Alesha Dixon has been married twice.
In 2005 she married British rapper MC Harvey, the couple had been dating for five years before they tied the knot.
But the marriage lasted less than a year with the couple calling it quits in 2006 after Harvey admitted to having an affair with his West End stage co-star Javine Hylton.
The pair had been caught when Javine’s ex Karl ‘KG’ Gordon spotted Harvey’s car outside her house and phoned Alesha to tell her.
In 2014 Alesha opened up about the pain the split had caused her during an appearance on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories.
She said: “I didn’t eat for a few days. I just remember sitting on the floor in my house. I felt lost. I couldn’t find the words.
“You ask those questions: Why? What have I done wrong?”
Describing how she confronted Harvey, she added: “He came home that night and I thought smartly, the only way I’m going to get the truth is if I calmly sit down and talk to him because if he came in and I was a raging bull I’d have got nothing out of him.
“He was really honest because I was really calm. I actually deserve an Oscar for that day that he came home and I asked him if he had an affair. I kept my cool I was really calm.”
Earlier this year Harvey also opened up about the day that Alesha found out about the affair, telling the James English podcast: “The worst thing I’ve ever had to do is tell a woman I cheated on her.”
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Luckily, Alesha was able to find love again with dancer Azuka Ononye.
The couple met and became friends back in 2006 when Azuka was working as a dancer during Alesha’s tour.
However, in an interview with Jonathon Ross Alesha previously admitted to playing hard to get for “about a year” before the pair got together.
They are rumoured to have secretly married in 2017 after Alesha referred to Azuka as “my lovely husband” while appearing on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show Christmas Special in December 2017.
Alesha Dixon’s Strictly career
(Image: PA)
2006 wasn’t a great year for Alesha, as well as splitting from Harvey the singer was also dropped from her record label.
Opening up about that time of her life, she previously told the Mirror: “Anyone who knows me knows that my music career and marriage were the most important things. And I lost them within two weeks of each other
“It was the lowest point of my life. I just kept thinking, ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ I didn’t see the point in living.”
But things started to look up for Alesha when she decided to sign up for Strictly Come Dancing in 2007.
Despite the tough time she’d been having outside the show, she went on to win the fifth series of Strictly and was awarded the coveted Glitterball Trophy alongside her dance partner, Matthew Cutler.
Reminiscing about her time competing on the show after making a special guest appearance on 2020’s Christmas Day special, Alesha revealed that it helped her to cope through the difficult time she’d been having.
She said: “Winning Strictly Come Dancing changed my life
“It came into my life at a time when I needed a lift, I needed something positive, and it really, really was the tonic that I needed.”.
But Alesha’s Strictly journey didn’t end in 2007 and in 2009 she became a judge on the BBC dance competition, replacing Arlene Philips.
She remained on the panel for three years before announcing in 2012 that she was leaving in favour of a spot on the judging panel at Britain’s Got Talent.
Does Alesha Dixon have children?
(Image: Instagram)
After her time on Strictly, Alesha’s life started looking up and she found happiness with new partner Azuka Ononye.
Alesha and Azuka now have two children together.
They welcomed their first daughter, Azura Sienna Ononye, in October 2013 and their second daughter, Anaya Safiya Ononye, in August 2019.
Alesha is a doting mother and has admitted that her favourite part is “the cuddles”.
She told the Mirror: “Sometimes I find myself begging for a cuddle. There is nothing nicer than when they dive on you and they just squeeze you so tightly and you feel that love.
“You forget about the lack of sleep, the screaming and tantrums. They’re the best.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
