Alesha Dixon jokes she "nearly didn't look mixed race" after missing out on sunny breaks during lockdown.
Alesha Dixon was determined to get away
The 43-year-old star - who was born in the UK to Jamaican dad Marvin and English mother Beverly Harris - cancelled Christmas with her family in 2021 to make sure she could go on holiday for a warm weather trip over New Year, and she admitted she was desperate for a sun tan.
Speaking to the Walt Disney Travel Company's 'Journey to the Magic' podcast host Giovanna Fletcher, she quipped: "I mean, I was starting to look so pale, I nearly didn’t look mixed-race! Honestly, even my other half was like, ‘This is the whitest I’ve ever seen you - you need a suntan, love!’
"I needed to go and top up my tan, I needed to relax and honestly, it’s the most relaxed I’ve felt in such a long time, I needed it.”
Alesha - who has daughters Azura Sienna, eight, and Anaya, 18 months, with husband Azuka Ononye - made sure they got away for a winter break, rather than seeing their friends and extended family over the festive period.
She said: “It was so nice being away at New Year, and after last New Year, after the year that we all had, I said to my other half that there is absolutely no way I am going to be in the UK next New Year, I need to be away.
"So that was my mission, and so I cancelled all my plans with family and friends before Christmas because I was petrified I would catch COVID. And I thought ‘This PCR test has to be negative, I am getting on that flight! Sorry cousin, I’ll catch-up with you in January!' "
Alesha jetted off to the Maldives before moving onto Dubai, but she wishes they had planned the trip the "other way round".
She added: "We went to the Maldives for a week and then we popped to Dubai on the way back, but I wish I stayed in the Maldives.
"Once you’re in the Maldives you really switch off and relax. I should have done it the other way round, started in Dubai and then onto the Maldives."
A new episode of the six-part 'Journey to the Magic' series is being released every Wednesday from May 18 until June 29, and they are available wherever you listen to your podcasts.
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