Quotes from Alesha Dixon

I love to look good - I love to get glammed up - but it's not the most important thing in my world, and I'm not afraid to not be perfect. I can see where there is a lot of pressure 'cause we live in a very visual world, but I try to go a bit deeper than that. Things are just more important!

I had kind of left college. I wanted to study to be a sports teacher, but I had that little inner voice within me that said, 'You should be doing something else,' and I followed that gut instinct.

When I was a little girl, I was a little bit of a show off.

I'm happy to be human, and being human means we aren't perfect.

Success now is waking up in the morning and being comfortable in my own skin. You can go to a job that pays well, but if you're not happy in yourself or if you're not grateful for what you have, it means nothing.

Anyone who walks out on stage, whether he's eight or 80, they'll go, 'Oh, Alesha, he'd be good for you.' I'm the butt of the single jokes.

Dad's fear, especially when I was 18, was that, in the music industry in the U.K., there wasn't really anybody I would aspire to who was of black origin and who was successful. It was mainly black American musicians in the charts and, at that age, I think you look for someone you can identify with, and there wasn't really anyone.

I like 'Strictly' because it is warm, glamourous, and brings families together.

What I loved about 'Strictly' as a viewer and contestant was that it was warm, family entertainment. So it is a shame for the show when controversy surrounds it. That is not what we like about 'Strictly.'

I started out as a duo with Mis-Teeq's Sabrina Washington, and we worked for four or five years before signing a record deal. I had no money, and I was taking part-time jobs just to earn the train fare to get to rehearsals.

I prefer to focus on who I am as a person and what I stand for. We all want to look good, but I find it more rewarding to work on feeling good and going a bit deeper beneath the surface.

I've got so many dance heroes, and it's such a cliche, but how can I not say Michael Jackson? Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul - they are the people I remember when I was a little girl, watching their videos and trying to learn all the choreography.

Dancing is one of the best ways of expressing yourself, and I definitely use it to release emotion.

I've always had a passion for dancing, and I wasn't lucky enough to go to stage school, so when I got onto the show, I was like a kid in a sweet shop. I went into it just to have fun. The support was overwhelming, to say the least. It wasn't until the end of the show that I realised how much I really wanted to win it.

I'm not doing a 9 to 5 job, so every week is different; one week I might be at home for three or four days, and another week it'll be busier. That's the beauty of my job.

When I first got the call to do 'Britain's Got Talent', it was actually Amanda who was one of the first people to reach out to me and suggest we go out for a coffee and have a conversation. And we did, and it was great.

I think that when you're young, you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You're anxious; the world seems like a scary place. You don't know where you're going to fit in, what you're gonna do with your life - but actually, life has a way of sorting itself out, and universal law takes over.

When there is a danceoff, it's scary thinking that someone's destiny or fate is in your hands. I actually always prefer it when the public decide on something rather than four individuals. 11 million people are a lot more powerful than four judges.

Sadly, I've learnt that prejudice still exists in parts of the entertainment industry - I did an interview with a magazine once, and the journalist quite openly said they wouldn't put a black person on the front cover because the magazine wouldn't sell.

I've always been taught that life is a series of chapters, and it's all about moving forward and not carrying around baggage.

I knew I always wanted to be my own boss. My mum would say I've been my own boss since primary school. It was probably always my destiny.

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.

Strictly has just given me a real zest for life. Life is so short. We should all grasp it.

I love being a female. I love being the boss.