New 'Strictly Come Dancing' judge Alesha Dixon has responded to fans' criticism about her performance on the BBC dance show.
Thirty-year-old Dixon, a former winner, has replaced 66-year-old choreographer Arlene Phillips as a judge on the show and BBC message boards have featured many messages from fans that are unhappy with Dixon's level of technical knowledge.
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Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Dixon said that while it was not pleasant being criticised, a person couldn't "please all of the people all of the time".
"I am not a quitter. It's not in my nature to consider quitting," she added.
The BBC said that it was "delighted" with Dixon's performance.
Fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood has rallied round Dixon and blasted the "horrendous" backlash directed at her.
The 44-year-old choreographer backed his new colleague and insisted it had taken him, and all the other judges, time to perfect their cutting comments of the celebrity's performances.
Raging Revel Horwood said today: "This backlash is horrendous and I don't think she deserves it. She deserves to be given a chance and it makes me very angry that she's not."
He told BBC Breakfast: "If you go back and look at the first weeks of any of us, Arlene, Len, Bruno and I, on any of our early recordings none of us were perfect right away. To get good constructive criticism in 10 seconds is not an easy thing to do and it takes time.
"Alesha has got to be given a chance. She's up there to form a critique and that's what she is doing."
Former tennis champ Martina Hingis became the first star to leave the show, following a dance-off against TV presenter Rav Wilding.
