Alesha Dixon to become Strictly judge

The BBC is at the centre of another ageism row after it announced yesterday that pop star Alesha Dixon will be a new judge on the hit TV show Strictly Come Dancing, replacing Arlene Phillips, who at 66 is more than twice Dixon's age.

Also joining the show as a special judge for this year's series will be former prima ballerina with the Royal Ballet, Darcy Bussell. Between them Dixon, 30, and Bussell, 40, have a combined age just four years greater than that of outgoing judge Phillips, 66.

Dixon has been chosen as a judge two years after she won the show in an attempt to woo younger viewers and give the show a 'sexier' feel. However, there have been murmurings of discontent over Dixon's qualifications - Phillips is a professional choreographer while Dixon was a ballroom novice until she took part in the 2007 series.

The former Mis-teeq singer Dixon's arrival on the show had been widely predicted, but the appointment of Bussell was something of a surprise. She will join the programme for the final three weeks and will act as a fifth member of the judging panel while advising the last remaining contestants. She will also host a spin-off programme called It Takes Two.

The move mirrors that by rival broadcaster ITV last year, which replaced X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne with pop star Cheryl Cole for last year's series, and reaped the benefits. The fight for viewers between the two shows in the run-up to Christmas has become one of the features of the autumn schedules.

The other Strictly judges - 65-year-old Len Goodman, 53-year-old Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood, 44 - have all kept their jobs and presenter Bruce Forsyth, 81, will continue in his role this year. Phillips has been given a job on The One Show reporting on the show's progress this year.
Other high profile women whose BBC careers faltered as they aged include newsreader Anna Ford, who accused executives of failing to represent older people when she quit in 2006, then aged 63, and Moira Stewart, 59, who lost her regular news bulletins in 2007. Last year there were more allegations of ageism after a shake-up of presenters on the rather more sedate show Countryfile. ·