Alesha Dixon’s splits from partner and father of her child but will remain living together

Alesha Dixon has split from her partner of 18 years, according to reports.

The Britain’s Got Talent judge first crossed paths with Azuka Ononye, who was her back-up dancer on tour, in 2006. The couple married in 2017 and share two children together.

Dixon, 46, and Ononye, 44, are said to be separated but still living together in order to co-parent their two daughters.

“Alesha confirmed she’s split from Azuka and is navigating that as best she can,” a source told The Sun.

“They are still living together for the sake of their family and are co-parenting. Alesha headed to Jamaica with her friends to get some sunshine and have a break from her hectic schedule. It was a great tonic and she had a fantastic time.”

Speculation first swirled in October, when the star was first spotted without her wedding ring. Reports in November suggested that the couple had separated, after Ononye appeared without his wife at the premiere for Wicked at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Independent has contacted Dixon’s representatives for comment.

The couple’s relationship came in the aftermath of Dixon’s turbulent divorce from her first husband MC Harvey (Michael Harvey), after he cheated on her with singer Javine Hylton. The Mis-Teeq singer launched her solo career shortly thereafter. Ononye has worked with Madonna, Sade, Ashanti and Cheryl Tweedy in the past.

Dixon has spent much of her life in the public eye, after first joining the girl group in 1999, aged 18. She has since said that she is doing everything in her power to ensure the couple’s children do not have smartphones.

“As long as we can avoid our daughters having phones, we’re going try our hardest. (Azura, 11) can be begging me for a mobile phone and I feel no way to be like ‘nope’ because I’ve got one,” she told Women’s Health UK earlier this year.

“You’ve got to be strong with it. My thing is this: if she doesn’t need a phone then why is she having one?

“If I can delay her being in that world, I’m going to work super hard to make sure that it doesn’t happen. I don’t care if her friends have got phones. In our house, we don’t want that.”