Alesha Dixon: 'Darcey will be fine on Strictly'

Alesha Dixon: 'Darcey will be fine on Strictly'
Alesha Dixon: 'Darcey will be fine on Strictly' (Image credit: Simon Songhurst)

Former Strictly Come Dancing star Alesha Dixon has given her thumbs-up to the show's new judge Darcey Bussell, saying she will be "absolutely fine". The 43-year-old ballerina, who previously appeared as a guest panellist in 2009, will sit alongside head judge Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli when the tenth series of the hit ballroom show begins on Saturday September 15th. Former Strictly Come Dancing star Alesha - who swapped her seat on the judging panel of the BBC show for ITV's Britain's Got Talent - said as she launched the new Impulse fragrance Sweet Smile: "I think Darcey is going to be fine, because she hasn't joined the panel in a controversial way, so she's going to have an easy ride." The 33-year-old added: "At the same time, when you're the new girl on the block, even for myself when I first joined Britain's Got Talent, you're the judge being judged. It's inevitable that is going to happen. "The first couple of weeks, people are going to be judging her but she's a mature woman, carries herself in a great way and she'll be absolutely fine." Alesha - who won Strictly in 2007, and joined the judging panel in 2009 - revealed that it will be "strange" watching the show this year without any involvement. "I did it for over three years - the first year as a contestant, then went back to perform and then judged for three years. So it will be a little bit weird, but I'm actually looking forward to watching it from my sofa," she said. She's also looking forward to reuniting with fellow judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and David Walliams for the next series of Britain's Got Talent. "They've asked me back and I would obviously love to go back. The contracts have been signed, they're with the lawyers at the moment so fingers crossed, in a couple of weeks, it should all be done and dusted," she said. Alesha is the face of the new exclusive Impulse fragrance Sweet Smile, on sale now.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.