Alesha Dixon won’t return to ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The 37-year-old singer, who won the Mirrorball trophy on the BBC show in 2007, went on to become a judge in 2009 before leaving for ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, but has ruled herself out as a replacement for head judge Len Goodman when he leaves next year.
Speaking at the AOL Build UK event on Friday (22.07.16), Alesha said: "No I’m certainly not going back. For me it’s about moving forward and actually I’m really sad that Len is leaving but I totally understand. I had a great catch up with Bruno Tonioli recently and it’s a massive deal because he’s been there from the start."
Alesha also doesn’t think the show should replace Len and believes it would work just as well with current judges Bruno, Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell.
She said: "I think it could work as a three – if it works with three in America, why can’t it work with three in the UK, and just have Craig as head judge."
It’s not surprising that Alesha doesn’t want the job, as when she was a judge on the show she came under fire from viewers.
Speaking about the backlash, Alesha said: "It’s not life or death – there’s real issues going on in the world and if you have a grip on reality you can deal with frivolous entertainment industry politics, it’s not important so if anyone says anything negative I just try my best to brush it off.
"You have to be thick skinned to deal with whatever comes with it, so we did and it ended up being an incredible experience and I genuinely loved it, it’s a super friendly show to work on and I had the time of my life."
Meanwhile the star says her time as a contestant on the show marked a ‘turning point’ in her career.
She added: "It ended up being one of the most incredible experiences of my life – I literally felt like I had been given a second chance and when the show ended, on the actual night that I won, I know it sounds corny, but I thought ‘everything’s going to be okay’ and it kind of has, it was a real blessing. I worked hard on that show, I trained 10 hours a day for four months and it was really worth it."