Have a problem with confident women.
She took part in Strictly Come Dancing, a show on which celebrities queue up to appear and is normally described as a joyful experience by former contestants.
Despite regularly receiving top scores from the judges, Alexandra often found herself in the bottom two as a result of the public vote and the subject of criticism on social media.
But why? Several theories were forthcoming.
Never having watched it and never having plans to, I’m agog.
The Sun’s Dan Wootton, meanwhile, claimed Alexandra was “far too cocky”.
So does this mean that Britain has a problem with confident women? Or does it mean something else – that man or woman, no one much likes a smartarse?
“According to some, Alexandra is gushing, over complimentary, talkative, excitable, dramatic, theatrical, over the top, grating, mildly annoying, calculating, overly humble and modest,” he said.
Ah, right… So people didn’t much like her because she was brash, annoying and the humble bit probably came across a fake. So, no one much likes a smartarse.
But women who come across as a little more confident in their own ability are often said not to be “likeable” enough.
I think you’ll find that this isn’t about women. It’s about no one much liking a smartarse irrespective of what they keep in their underpants.
Writing about Jessie J, who has faced similar accusations, Popjustice said: “In the UK we have a problem with what we call ‘showing off’, even when it comes to pop stars, musicians and people whose actual job is to show off a bit.
“Sing but don’t over-sing. Collect an award but don’t look too pleased with yourself. That sort of thing.”
A little humility then? It’s a very British thing. Because no one much likes a smartarse.
“I find it bizarre, because women shouldn’t feel that if they come across as too confident it can be mistaken for arrogance. That’s a massive problem we have over here,” Alexandra says.
No, sweetheart, it’s because no one much likes a smartarse. Your sex has nothing to do with it. There’s an awful lot to be said for a little humility and that self-deprecating humour mentioned in the article can do wonders.
Well, I do admire the men and women that get science-based Nobel prizes. They are smartarses and good on ’em.
I’m not generally a fan of these kind of TV shows but Strictly Come Dancing was one that I actually used to quite enjoy watching. I didn’t used to vote but I did sort of choose people to root for. Alexandra Burke simply wasn’t a likeable character, I don’t know why, it isn’t something that you can really quantify. I seem to recall that there were male contestants who didn’t have the popular touch either, I think it was Limahl that regularly found himself in the bottom two, presumably that was due to racism.