Brendan Cole reckons former judge Alesha Dixon will not be missed when Strictly Come Dancing returns to our screens.

And in a thinly-veiled dig at Alesha – who waltzed off the BBC1 ballroom contest for a judging spot on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent – he said ballerina Darcey Bussell was a “fantastic” replacement. He told TV Biz: “I saw Alesha on BGT. She did really well. However, I don’t think she will be a big miss, really.

Alesha Dixon has admitted she has not spoken to the Strictly Come Dancing judges since she quit the show earlier this year to join Britain's Got Talent.

Speaking to The Sun's Fabulous magazine the 33-year-old singer also revealed that she had not heard from Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood or Len Goodman either since making the move.

Pop babes Jessie J and Alesha Dixon are set to face off in the mother of all reality TV battles – as The Voice and Britain's Got Talent launch on the same night.

The Beeb last month picked March 24 to kick off their £22million new singing contest The Voice, with Jessie J joined on the judging panel by Tom Jones, Will.i.am and The Script frontman Danny O'Donoghue.

Simon Cowell is obviously still playing the Mr Mean role on Britain's Got Talent, as he insulted Alesha Dixon during the recent round of auditions.

The show supremo might have poached Alesha away from Strictly Come Dancing to join the new BGT judging panel, but that doesn't mean he has to play nice. He shocked the BGT crowd – and the new judge herself – by asking 'Who are you anyway?' after she made comments following a dance group's audition.

Fuming Alesha Dixon was forced to move hotel rooms — after Simon Cowell and David Walliams turned Cupid. The new Britain's Got Talent judge could be forgiven for believing she was in for an easy ride after a barrage of criticism during her stint on the panel of Strictly Come Dancing.

But it looks like the singer will have her hands full — after she was left furious by her fellow judges' matchmaking stunt. The pair claimed Alesha was desperate to find a man — and during auditions in Cardiff over the weekend, the troublesome twosome told a rapper her hotel and room number in front of the entire TV audience.

Alesha Dixon did not go to the National Television Awards on Wednesday because she feared Strictly would win a gong and she would have to stay seated, friends claimed yesterday.

A source close to the singer, who dumped the show to become a Britain's Got Talent judge, said: "Strictly had a great year and was tipped to win so it would have been really awkward for her.

Amanda Holden has backed new judge Alesha Dixon to last longer on the Britain's Got Talent panel than Kelly Brook — because she has a "brain". Simon Cowell secretly hired Kelly in 2009, but axed her after two days, saying the show was too slow with four judges.

But this year the four-judge format has returned with Alesha, 33, and 40-year-old Little Britain funnyman David Walliams joining Cowell and pregnant Amanda.

Britain's Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon has claimed she decided to leave Strictly Come Dancing because she was tired of the show. The 33-year-old singer's new deal with ITV is reportedly worth about £350,000 a year.

However, she insisted that the attractive salary was not behind her decision to quit Strictly after three years.She told the Daily Mirror: "Money has never been a factor. If it was I'd have done so many crazy things over the years.

Simon Cowell admits he poached Alesha Dixon for the Britain's Got Talent panel to hurt BBC rival Strictly Come Dancing.

The media mogul said his decision to sign up Alesha for his ITV show was partly because he liked her and partly to wound Strictly - which beat The X Factor in the ratings last year - although he insisted such tactical moves were 'meant to be in good spirit'.

Miranda Hart has confirmed there is no truth to the rumours that she will replace Alesha Dixon on Strictly Come Dancing, while Kara Tointon and Arlene Phillips remain in the running.

Hart, known more for her humour than her salsa, was rumoured to be joining the show after judge Alesha Dixon left to appear on this year's Britain's Got Talent on ITV.

Bournemouth’s professional dancer Karen Hardy has spoken of her shock at hearing Alesha Dixon is leaving the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel.

The former Strictly star, who won the show when she was partnered with cricketer Mark Ramprakash in 2006, has been touted as one of the possible replacements for Alesha, who told the BBC this week she was leaving to become a judge on rival ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.

'Strictly Come Dancing' bosses are reportedly considering replacing Alesha Dixon on the panel of the BBC One show with comedienne Miranda Hart.

The 39-year-old comic is seen as a "startling" choice to replace Alesha Dixon - who has left to join the panel of ITV1 rival 'Britain's Got Talent' - because show chiefs don't want to go for an "obvious" choice, such as former contestants Kara Tointon or Zoe Ball, professional dancer Karen Hardy or former judge Arlene Philips.

Strictly Come Dancing bosses are planning revenge ­ on Simon Cowell. They want to poach Nicole Scherzinger from his US X Factor show. It’s retaliation after ­Cowell, 52, lured Alesha Dixon, 33, from Strictly for ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.

Former Pussycat Dolls star Nicole, 33, has hinted she wants out as a judge on US X Factor. That has given the BBC’s Strictly bosses the green light to swoop.

Former Strictly professional dancer Karen Hardy is the odds on bookies' favourite to replace Alesha Dixon as a judge on the 2012 series of the BBC pro-celebrity talent show.

Hardy, who won the 2006 series of Strictly alongside cricketer Mark Ramprakash, is 4/6 favourite to join Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood on the programme after it was announced that Dixon would be ending her three-year relationship with the show to join Britain's Got Talent on ITV.

Alesha Dixon’s shock decision to leave Strictly Come Dancing for Britain’s Got Talent has been the talk of Twitter today, with all sorts of telly stars taking to the social networking website to share their thoughts.

Holly Valance was one Strictly contestant who didn’t hold back. The newly-engaged blonde wrote: “Holy sh*t Alesha's left #SCD for #BGT?!? Who do you guys want to replace her?”

Karen Hardy and Darcey Bussell face a head-to-head battle to take over as the new Strictly Come Dancing judge after Alesha Dixon defected to ITV.

Former professional ballroom dancer Hardy, 41, and retired ballerina Bussell, 42, have been made early favourites to succeed Dixon. The former Mis-Teeq singer, 33, was poached by Simon Cowell to become a judge on rival show Britain's Got Talent.

Strictly Come Dancing champ Kara Tointon could soon find herself on the other side of the panel. Following Alesha's decision to quit the show in favour of a seat on the Britain's Got Talent judging panel, Kara has been tipped as her replacement.

Ladbrokes are offering even odds on the ex-EastEnders star becoming the new judge, after she earned an army of fans when she won the show in 2010.

Rumours regarding the 2012 Britain’s Got Talent line-up have been rife since Michael McIntyre and David Hasselhoff revealed they would not be returning to the show.

Today, the new-look judging panel was announced, with Alesha Dixon swapping Strictly Come Dancing for a spot on the hit talent series. Alesha will join David Walliams, Amanda Holden and returning head judge Simon Cowell for the impressive BGT 2012 line-up.

Alesha Dixon is to leave BBC One's hit programme Strictly Come Dancing to join ITV1 talent show Britain's Got Talent.

Dixon announced she will join Simon Cowell's team for the programme's sixth series later this year. The 33-year-old will appear alongside Cowell, David Walliams and Amanda Holden on the Britain's Got Talent judging panel.