ALESHA Dixon’s dad has spoken for the first time of his “torture” at seeing the star on telly.
Melvin Dixon, 66, is estranged from his daughter and couldn’t bear to watch Alesha, 40, as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent.
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The retired service engineer, who has barely spoken to Alesha in eight years, said he has suffered sleepless nights over their rift and fears it may be too late for a reconciliation.
In an exclusive chat with the Sun on Sunday, Melvin admitted he once slapped his daughter over a row with her then fiance MC Harvey but thought she had forgiven him.
He also pleaded with Alesha to get in touch so that he can finally meet his grandchild.
Melvin said: “It has been awful. It is torture seeing her on TV knowing she’s not part of my life any more.
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“I went to a friend’s house and Britain’s Got Talent came on the TV — I had to leave the room. I was too upset and, if I think about her before I go to bed, I cannot sleep.”
Alesha, who cheered on Chelsea Pensioner Colin Thackery during his emotional win on BGT last Sunday, recently announced she is expecting her second child with husband Azuka Ononye, 38.
They also have five-year-old daughter Azura.
Melvin, who has nine children by seven women, said he has been hurt by Alesha’s interviews suggesting that he was an absent father.
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He added: “I would love to have a relationship with Alesha — the same or better than it was before.
“I would love to see my grand-daughter, and when I first saw a picture of her in the paper I had a tear in my eye.
“I heard Alesha was pregnant again from the news and had a huge lump in my throat. She didn’t even call me.
“I very much doubt I will see her new baby and I have never met my other granddaughter.”
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Alesha, whose parents split when she was four, has previously called her family “dysfunctional”.
In one interview, she said: “I didn’t have much contact with my dad at all when I was little.”
But Jamaica-born Melvin showed us a string of pictures of himself with Alesha throughout the years, including at barbecues and family parties at his house.
He recalled how he had to leave the family home in Welwyn Garden City, Herts, when he split from Alesha’s mum Beverly, but stayed nearby.
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Melvin set up home with new partner Catherine and they went on to have three children together — Leyanne, 31, Jeroam, 27 and Callum, 22.
He said: “I was five minutes away, Alesha was still part of my family. She spent weekends with me and I saw her during the week.
“When I read the things she says about me, I can’t believe it is my little girl. I took her to all her dance classes, we went on holidays to Southend and Great Yarmouth — and to Jamaica.
“I took her to Irish dancing classes, she was so good at that.
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“One day I took her to three competitions and she won them all, man I was so proud that day.
“I used to travel with her on the bus to her first job at a Ladbrokes. I was a doting Dad and what she has said — or hasn’t said about me — is not right.”
Alesha’s big break came in 1999 when she joined girl band Mis-Teeq, aged 20. They released their first single two years later and won Best Garage Act at the MOBO Awards in 2002.
But her relationship with her father soured in 2004 after fiance MC Harvey, of So Solid Crew fame, offended Melvin.
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He said: “I didn’t like Harvey — he was disrespectful to me and kept speaking in gang slang to me, calling me ‘blud’.
“It is disrespectful to speak to me like that, I am older than him. So we had an argument.
“I said to him, ‘Are you going to get your gang to shoot me?’
“Alesha shouted at me, ‘I am not f***ing scared of you’. I said, ‘I didn’t raise you to be scared of me’. And then, yes, I did slap her.
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“It was in her face. I said sorry and she said it was OK. We went outside and we were fine. But she didn’t come back after that. The next year was the wedding and I didn’t get invited.”
Melvin said he was “distraught” at being shunned from their big day, and added: “It was horrible knowing my daughter was getting married and I couldn’t be there.”
But less than a year later the pair divorced after Harvey was caught cheating on Alesha.
Alesha turned to Dad for support and asked him to stay at her Hertfordshire home. Melvin spent the next year splitting his time between Thailand — where he had an on/off girlfriend — and England.
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He said: “That was our best time together. She wanted company and security — and I was handy around the house because of my job.”
In 2007, Alesha competed on Strictly Come Dancing and won. The victory confirmed her as a household name.
After the win, she flew to Thailand for a two-week holiday with Melvin and half-brother Adrian, 47.
Melvin later discovered he had fathered a daughter, Ning — now ten — with his ex-girlfriend.
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He told Alesha — by this time a judge on Strictly Come Dancing — about his youngest daughter while they were at his mother Clementina’s house in North London. The news hit her hard.
Melvin, who had only found out about Ning when she was two, said: “I told Alesha she had a sister in Thailand and she said, ‘She might share my DNA but she is nothing to do with me’. That shocked me.
“She doesn’t want to know my daughter, which really upset me. I don’t know if she’s jealous.
“I suppose she might think it’s not normal for a bloke to have nine children. But her words were bad and we have barely spoken since.”
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Melvin added: “That is one of the reasons we fell out, there are other petty reasons too.
“We also had a dispute about dental work I had done, which I thought Alesha would pay for. But she refused.”
Melvin last saw Alesha at his mother’s funeral in North London in 2017.
He recalled: “I texted her about the funeral and asked if she wanted to contribute. She replied, ‘No but I’m coming’. She came with Azuka, who is a lovely person.
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“I went over and gave her a hug, and she asked how I was, but we didn’t have a conversation as I wasn’t in the right frame of mind.”
In 2012, Alesha quit Strictly to join the BGT judging panel, and is still there, alongside Simon Cowell, David Walliams and Amanda Holden.
The switch meant a leap in salary to a rumoured £400,000 per series. She also promoted perfumes and gym chain LA Fitness.
Melvin now fears his “talented” daughter’s move into super-stardom has deepened their rift.
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He said: “I am pleased about her success. But she doesn’t speak to anyone on my side, including my brothers.
“Perhaps she feels more comfortable with showbiz people, but I worry she has forgotten where she came from.
“If I just got one phone call from her, we could move forward.”
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