Alesha Dixon believes Mis-Teeq are now getting more respect for their music and for being at the forefront of the UK garage scene.
The ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ judge was part of the girl group with Sabrina Washington and Su-Elise Nash and the trio had a string of hits in the early 2000s when garage music dominated the British charts.
Now, 20 years on from their 2005 split, Alesha says Mis-Teeq are getting the credit for being a major part of the garage scene.
In an interview with the new issue of Women’s Health UK magazine – for which she was photographed by Matthew Monfredi – she said: “Some of my favourite times were when we were in and out of clubs and DJs were playing our records. ‘Why?’ was a massive club hit and we’d be in the middle of the dance floor raving to our own song and no one knew who we were … I feel like [as] time goes on, the more people respect what we’ve achieved because they realise it’s like lightening in a bottle. We feel very lucky we were part of something that the UK can say ‘This is ours’. The US was untouchable when it came to R’n’B but the UK garage scene is British.”
Alesha, 46, admits she misses the vibe of the early 2000s, especially the fact you could go out clubbing and not have everything captured on social media.
She said: “Sometimes I just want to go and rave like it’s 2000 … I always say to my friends when I go out, if you can’t find me, go to the DJ booth. I’ll be right there. I’m like a magnet towards the microphone and before I know it, I’m on the mic. And then you wake up the next day and it’s all over Instagram and you go, ‘Oh God’. And it’s fine, but you just want to be in the moment – and then it’s on Instagram Stories.”
Alesha did get back on stage to perform a Mis-Teeq medley and her new single ‘Ransom’ on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, and she admitted that return to the stage made her realise how much she misses performing.
She said: “It was like my two worlds met and I felt so alive. I felt at home, surrounded by everybody that I know and love. And then I got to perform, which is my first love, and it was just such a beautiful moment for me. I just thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve missed performing so much.’ And I did say to myself after that performance, ‘Girl, you need to get back on stage more because that’s what makes you feel alive.'”
Alesha did get a performing fix when she teamed up with Amazon to deliver an ultra-fast performance revealing Amazon’s record delivery speeds.
In the video posted on Instagram, Alesha can be seen dressed in a double-denim outfit as she shows off her MC-ing skills, rattling off at blistering speed Amazon’s most popular products in 2024, and the UK’s speediest cities.
The partnership comes as Amazon announced it hit its fastest delivery speeds ever for Prime members globally in 2024, with more than one billion items arriving the same or next day for UK customers.
You can read the full interview Alesha in the March issue of Women’s Health UK or on the Women’s Health website now.