Singer Alesha Dixon has revealed that when she was an aspiring pop star her father discouraged her because she came from a black family.

Speaking to London's Evening Standard, Dixon recalled how after she revealed her aspirations to pursue a career with Mis-Teeq she was told that it would be that much harder for her to achieve success because of the colour of her skin:

"I remember the day I said to my dad that I wanted to be in a girl group. Bless his soul, he said, ‘What makes you think you’re going to succeed? Black people from this country don’t succeed’. And I remember saying to my dad at 15, 16, ‘I’m not going to base my decisions in life based on other people’s successes or failures. I have to make my own path’."

She added: "When Mis-Teeq broke through, you could argue there weren’t that many black artists in the UK. That’s why it felt special. It felt like something that was ours.”

The full interview will be available to read in tomorrow's (October 12) Evening Standard magazine.