She is now comfortable showing off her family, but Alesha Dixon had to learn the hard way to keep her personal life private and worthy.
The beautiful 38 year old BGT judge dated her current partner and backing dancer – Azuka Ononye – quietly for 3 years and even hid her pregnancy before going public.
All these were as a result of the shame brought on from her previous high profile relationship with her then husband, MC Harvey.
Both Harvey, a former So Solid Crew member and Alesha were enjoying the limelight while dating for 5 years before getting married in 2005. It all came crashing a year later when Alesha (and the whole world) discovered Harvey was cheating with singer Javine Hylton. Divorce papers soon followed.
Upon reflection, Alesha revealed:
“When you’re in a high-profile relationship and you break up it’s embarrassing”
“When that’s happened, you don’t want to be seen with the next person a month later, I wanted time to build a foundation, for it to be a relationship that would be taken seriously.”
She laughs at how events overtook them – so much of Alesha’s life is an open book – it must have been hard for her to keep such a huge part of her life secret.
Fellow BGT judge, Amanda Holden knew about her relationship and guessed she was pregnant though kept it a secret. She remembers getting a present – a little outfit – from Amanda with a note saying: “If I’m wrong, forget about this”
It would be understandable if she were cynical about relationships, but she insists she isn’t, although she does stress how differently she approached her relationship with Azuka.
“We were friends first – which is something I did very differently – and I think that’s really important. The lesson I learned was to take time to get to know him.”
Does she not find it difficult to trust, after what happened?
“Anyone can surprise you, but I trust him 100 per cent. He’s a good person. I’m honestly not cynical about relationships. You can’t tar all men with the same brush, and, well, you trust someone until they give you a reason not to.”
The former Mis-Teeq member who is not yet married to her partner now proudly shows him and their daughter off.
