Alesha Dixon today insisted she would not quit Strictly Come Dancing despite yesterday’s backlash from fans.

The 30-year-old singer and former winner of strictly received a barrage of criticism on internet message boards this weekend at her very first attempt at judging.

Some branded her “banal” and said her “limited knowledge” fell short off the expertise choregrapher Arlene Phillips, 66, brought to the show before she was replaced by Dixon as BBC bosses sought to attract younger viewers.

But Dixon insisted today that she would not resign and defended her place as a judge, insisting that she brought a new “perspective” to the judges’ panel.

She said: “You can’t please people all the time. We are just started on a long road. Obviously Arlene was a big part of the show for a long time. But my job is not to replace Arlene, my job is to provide a perspective that was missing before and that is the understanding of the performance aspects and of just how tough it is to perform to the standards viewers expect.”

She added: “Having been through the Strictly experience I can relate to what they are going through.”

The BBC was accused of ageism after Dixon replaced Phillips. But producers hoped that the row would fade away following Dixon’s first show on Friday.

Fans, however, have left hundreds of comments on BBC message boards calling for Phillips’s reinstatement.

One posted: “I think Alesha is lovely and has a super bubbly personality, but she’s totally out of her depth here — nothing substantial to say, just vague comments about smiling or non-smiling faces and how much the dancers seem to be enjoying themselves (or not). Bring back Arlene!”

Another wrote: “The BBC have taken her on as a judge and they got rid of one of the most experienced and professional dance choreographers to do so. Many viewers, myself included, feel cheated and even somewhat insulted.”

The corporation has given Dixon its full support. A spokesman said: “The BBC are right behind her.”

The BBC has also been criticised for scheduling Strictly Come Dancing directly against ITV’s The XFactor — but executives have no plans to change its time slot.

ITV’s show peaked with 10.7 million viewers on Saturday night, while Strictly Come Dancing’s high was 8.7 million.

Updated  September 24th AM>>

BBC chiefs gag dancers and judges.

It has been obvious to viewers since Friday night, and yesterday the BBC finally admitted it – Alesha Dixon is not doing a brilliant job replacing Arlene Phillips as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing.

A BBC spokesman, sounding pained, told me that this was ‘like her first job’ and that there was ‘obviously room to grow’.

Even that much candour on the Strictly issue has been rare – and yesterday we discovered why.

To the embarrassment of the BBC a ‘briefing note for dancers, judges and celebs’ was leaked, revealing all were ordered to toe the party line on the subject.

If asked about Alesha, they were simply to say she ‘is a great performer and was a fantastic champion’.

Unfortunately for the BBC, it couldn’t gag the viewers too.

What started as a silly-season story back in July when Miss Phillips was dropped is now looking like a full-scale PR disaster.

The complaints are not yet running at levels of last year’s Sachsgate, but operators have fielded nearly 1,000 calls on a single topic: the shortcomings of Alesha Dixon, and why oh why can’t the BBC bring back Arlene Phillips

Thousands more complaints have been made on BBC internet message boards – around 4,000 in total.

By yesterday afternoon 1,400 viewers had signed up to a petition to bring back Arlene. Hundreds of other viewers said that they were furious and disgusted, and promised that they would not watch again.

Some of the aggrieved fans, fed up with getting the stock replies issued by the complaints department, are now waging a guerilla campaign and attempting to directly contact Martin Scott, the BBC’s head of format entertainment, who was until now a blameless and anonymous figure.

And as the grassroots rebellion grows, a media storm is swirling. There has been a suitably po-faced leader on the subject in the Guardian (claiming, heaven help us, that 30-year-old Alesha Dixon has ‘star quality’ and ‘deserves a break’).