Natalie Imbruglia shares verdict on Tom Jones’ axe from The Voice as singer declares ‘Don’t understand it’
Natalie Imbruglia has expressed bewilderment at ITV’s decision to remove Sir Tom Jones from The Voice UK’s coaching panel.
The 51-year-old Australian artist, who served as a support act on Sir Tom’s tour earlier this year, shared her feelings during an appearance on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Moneybox on Virgin Radio UK on Wednesday.
“I was going to post, I haven’t posted yet, but I’m just so sad about that,” she told Mr Evans.
The presenter echoed her sentiments, saying he wasn’t angry but simply couldn’t make sense of the move.
Sir Tom Jones will not be returning to The Voice as a judge | ITV “I don’t understand it,” Ms Imbruglia responded.
She also praised the 86-year-old Welsh legend for publicly addressing his departure via social media, describing his Instagram statement as “quite punk rock.”
Mr Evans revealed that he had spent time with Sir Tom the previous Saturday at Carfest, where the veteran performer had been watching the latest episode of The Voice with great enthusiasm.
“He’d just watched The Voice, the latest episode of The Voice, because they had a film on about him and he couldn’t wait to see it, and he was really, really excited,” Mr Evans recounted.
Natalie Imbruglia shared her confusion over Sir Tom Jones’ removal from ITV This Voice
|
GETTY
The radio host drew a stark conclusion from that encounter.
“So clearly he had no idea then that it was going to happen,” he said.
The account suggests Sir Tom was blindsided by the decision, which aligns with the singer’s own claim that ITV had made the call “obviously a while ago” but only informed him recently.
In his Instagram post, Sir Tom made clear that the departure was not his choice. “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,” he wrote.
He stated that the broadcaster had cited financial difficulties with insurance as the reason behind the move, though ITV subsequently told the press it wanted to “refresh” the programme with an entirely new coaching lineup.
The singer said he had been offered a diminished role involving a brief appearance rather than full participation from the outset, which he found unsatisfactory.
Sir Tom signed off with a characteristically dry observation: “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.”
Sir Tom Jones’ removal as a judge on The Voice has prompted fury from fans
|
ITVA spokesperson for the show said: “We have loved working with Sir Tom Jones over the past nine years on The Voice UK. While he will no longer be a full-time coach on series 15, we continue to talk to Sir Tom and his team about his involvement in the next series.”
This is not the first time Sir Tom has been removed from the programme. In 2016, ahead of the fifth series, the BBC dropped him with just 24 hours’ notice — a move he condemned as “sub-standard behaviour.”
Since the show’s launch on BBC One in 2012, Sir Tom has guided three contestants to victory: Leanne Mitchell, Ruti Olajugbagbe and Anthonia Edwards.
The Welsh icon, who has shifted over 100 million records, holds three UK number one singles, two Brit Awards and an OBE.
Comments are closed.