Sir Tom Jones' brutal response to The Voice bosses after being dropped from show
Sir Tom Jones has shared his feelings at being dropped from The Voice UK when it was shown on the BBC. The legendary singer, 84, was let go ahead of series five of the show after becoming one of the original judges.
He worked alongside will.i.am, Jessie J and The Script singer Danny O'Donoghue. But after four seasons, BBC executives informed him his contract wouldn't be renewed.
Opening up about the experience, Sir Tom said that he spent the previous summer expecting the show would be recommissioned. He heard whispers that Paloma Faith might replace then-judge Rita Ora, who had switched to ITV's The X Factor.
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But with just a month left before filming was set to begin, Tom claims producers contacted his agent to say he wouldn't be "invited back", with Boy George stepping in. The singer said he was left "shocked" by the news and in his 2016 autobiography, Over The Top and Back, he explained: "To say I was shocked is to put it mildly.
"But my shock wasn't about the fact they had replaced me. My shock was about the way they did it." Tom goes on to admit "nobody has the right to think of themselves as a permanent fixture", and when his management questioned the decision to replace the star, he claims BBC bosses simply responded by saying he was "out of contract", WalesOnline reports.
"Indisputable as a bald statement of fact, I guess," he said. "But what a cold place the BBC is. Sometimes you wonder whether it is run by humans or a machine in the basement."
He later returned as a judge when the programme made the switch from BBC to ITV and he will be appearing for the fifth round of auditions tonight alongside fellow judges LeAnn Rimes, will.i.am and McFly members Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher.
LeAnn is taking over from outgoing coach Anne-Marie, while Danny and Tom are replacing Olly Murs. Ahead of the new series, Welsh icon Sir Tom commented: "We have our new coaches, LeAnn, Danny and Tom, joining myself and Will. It has brought a fresh energy to the show. What amazes me is the brilliant voices that we discover every single year.
"This year we have a fresh bunch of singers and that's what we are looking for. I look at The Voice being an amazing platform for our homegrown singers to showcase to the world. I think the strength in the variety of coaches is that we are all listening for completely different things, which makes it interesting."