Strictly Come Dancing queen Alesha on her heartbreaking family feud

The 29-year-old no longer has any contact with Mark Harris who recently sold a story about their "terrible" childhood to a tabloid.

"The reason I don't talk to Mark is because of the way he is so disrespectful to our mum," says Alesha.

"I cherish her. If anyone is rude about her or says a bad word about her they won't be a part of my life. Unfortunately, that's how I feel about my brother."

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Mark has claimed that he, Alesha and their younger brother John – who all have different fathers - "often went to bed hungry" as their mother Beverley took up with a succession of sometimes violent boyfriends.

He described how they looked on screaming as Beverley was subjected to a brutal attack in the street by one live-in boyfriend which left her hospitalised.

But Alesha has hit back at his claims:

"I didn't have a perfect childhood but it was still a great one – and I don't want people to think different," she told The Sun.

"The last thing I would ever want is people to think my mum is a bad mother – she's the most amazing mother anybody could ever wish for." Her father - electrician Melvin Dixon – left the family when she was just four and the relationship between he and Beverley reportedly remains strained.

Alesha credits her parents for helping her through a difficult 2006 in which her solo singing career stalled, she was dropped by her record label, and her husband walked out on her after an affair with singer Javine Hylton.

"I have to thank my mum and my dad for making me the person I am today.

"I thank my mum for her absolute love – she always supported me, she always wanted me to be happy – and my dad for his strength.

"My parents always had their hearts in the right place, they did the best by their children," she says.

Now she is a household name, Dixon is expected to make millions and her success is expected to kickstart her ailing music career.

Dixon, 29, from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, had her first taste of fame as part of the garage/R&B girl band Mis-Teeq.

They released two successful albums - Lickin' On Both Sides in 2001 and Eye Candy in 2003 - and had several hit singles, including Scandalous and Can't Get It Back.

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The band broke up in March 2005 and Dixon married Harvey three months later but filed for divorce this year after he admitted an affair with Hylton - his co-star in the West End musical Daddy Cool. Hylton is expecting his baby early next year.

Dixon was signed to Polydor Records as a solo artist after Mis-Teeq broke up but cancelled the release of her first single, Superficial, when it was leaked.

Her single Lipstick made number 14 in the UK singles charts in 2006 but the follow-up, Knock Down, peaked at number 45 and she was dropped by the record company.

She left with full rights to her unreleased debut album, Fired Up, which she is now expected to release in the new year.