TOM JONES RELEASES STATEMENT AFTER BEING DROPPED FROM THE VOICE UK

Production begins this week on the 2027 series of The Voice UK for ITV, which will see two new coaches joining the show following the departures of Danny Jones & Tom Fletcher and Tom Jones taking on a new role.

Former The X Factor judge Cheryl is joining the show as one of two new coaches, alongside rapper Aitch. They join returning coaches Will i am and Kelly Rowland. Whilst Tom Jones will no longer be a fulltime coach, Tom will join the show in the latter stages as a "super mentor" to the acts, The Sun reports.

In a statement released today, Tom Jones said: "To be clear, I did not want to leave The Voice as I love the show and really appreciate the audience. ITV made this decision — obviously a while ago, and I was told just recently. The reason given is because of a financial difficulty with insurance...

"They now say in the press they wanted to ‘refresh’ the show, and with a new coaching line-up there wouldn’t be a chair for me. They are offering a much-reduced role where I would make an appearance but without being actually involved from the start, and I’m not thrilled about that. So the only thing I know right now, is that there’s never a good time to fire an 86-year-old who’s still pretty good at his job."

It's been previously reported that Alesha Dixon and Stacey Solomon will replace Emma Willis as hosts and will be there to guide the singers through every high note, chair turn and dramatic showdown as they ultimately battle to win a life changing record contract with music giants Universal Music Group, £50,000 in cash and a dream holiday to Universal Studios Resort in Florida.

The series currently on air has introduced the Rewind button, giving each coach one chance during the Blind Auditions to change their mind about an act who has left the stage without a single chair turn.

If a coach realises they have made a mistake, they can hit Rewind, bring the act back, and offer them a place on their team. However, with only one Rewind available to each coach, they must choose their moment wisely. For an act who thought their journey was over, it could change everything…

This year's series of The Voice will see the return of the Battle rounds. Airing across 2x75' the Battles will air following the 6x75' audition episodes and be followed by the 1x120 semi-final and 110 minute-long series final. This series will be one episode longer than previous series at 10 episodes.

The Voice continues Saturday nights on ITV1 and ITVX.