The Voice UK: Where Are They Now?
Series one winner Leanne failed to impress with her debut single, a cover of Whitney Houston’s ‘Run To You’, which reached 45 in the charts in 2012. Her self-titled album followed, but did even worse reaching a lowly 134. She was promptly dropped by her label Decca. “I don’t think anyone was particularly on my side from the start,” she said on Twitter, but denied she was back working at holiday parks. She now has a baby boy called Leo.
Landed gentry Bo Bruce (she’s Lady Catherine Anna Brudenell-Bruce, daughter of the Earl of Cardigan) was a runner-up in series one. She signed a deal with Mercury Records, post-show, and her album 'Before I Sleep’ outstripped winner Leanne Mitchell’s debut, reaching number 10 in the charts. She was later dropped, but has since worked with dance producers Gareth Emery and Chicane, pop oddity Sia and last year got engaged to Henry Binns from Zero 7.
Series one semi-finalist Becky Hill is in fact the show’s biggest success, having become the only ex-Voice artist to scoop a number one – singing on Dutch producer Oliver Heldens’ track 'Gecko (Overdrive)’. Latter releases were less successful, 'Losing’, produced by MNEK, only reaching number 56. Last year she featured on the single 'Frequency’ by French dance artist Watermät, and performed at the Women’s FA Cup Final at Wembley.
Series two champ, the partially-sighted Andrea from Team Danny, won despite protestations from will.i.am, who stormed off when she was announced the winner. Her debut album peaked at number seven, and unlike many ex-Voicers, she’s still signed to Capitol Records. These days she’s an ambassador for the sight loss charity Royal National Institute of Blind People in Northern Ireland, and completed a Masters degree in Law and Governance at Queen’s University Belfast last year.
Much like the other winners, 2014 series champ Jermain didn’t do great business with his post-show album - it peaked at number 42 in the charts. And while he’s still plugging away at the music business, he’s also recently enrolled on a politics course at Leeds University. He did once say that he wanted to be Britain’s first singing Prime Minister, so this is a step in the right direction, as was hanging out with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn at an arts event last year.
Series two runner-up managed to score a number eight hit with her version of 'I Will Survive’ while still on the show. She also accompanied mentor will.i.am on his #willpower tour in 2013, getting her name out there more than most competitors. But despite Will pitching up to add vocals on her single 'Home’, it failed to grab a top 40 place. Her debut album 'Weird To Wonderful’ is due out later this year.
As may have been mentioned in passing, Tyler James was mates with Amy Winehouse. And prior to The Voice, he had singles and an album out through Island Records. A finalist in the first series, losing out to Leanne, he released second album 'A Place I Go’ after his appearance, but the curse of the show didn’t seem to help. It only reached number 47. He did appear in Asif Kapadia’s Oscar-winning documentary 'Amy’ last year though.
The Scottish fireman – nicknamed 'The Hero’ on the show – was the winner of series four, and things started pretty respectably, his single 'Lost Stars’ reaching number six in the charts. His album 'Big World’, released in January this year, didn’t fair quite as well, reaching number 35. After being dropped by his PR firm, he returned to the fire service, though he’s still doing gigs. In a recent interview, he warned the winner of this year’s show 'not to expect too much from it’. Oof.
As The Voice reaches the 2016 final, let’s take a look back over the past series to find out what the winners and runners-up are up to now. It’s a mixed bag, to be honest.
Image credits: Rex Features/Getty/WENN