Sir Tom Jones left his The Voice UK co-stars stunned during the latest episode of the show after revealing he had recorded with Portishead. The Welsh icon returned to ITV screens on Saturday, September 5, as the blind auditions continued.
This year, Kelly Rowland has joined the competition as a coach, alongside returning stars Will.i.am and McFly duo Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones. During the auditions, one contender took to the stage to perform Portishead's Glory Box.
Revelation on the show
After the performance, Sir Tom revealed his link to the band when Will.i.am said: "That's the first time someone has sung Portishead on this show, do you like Portishead?" The auditionee replied: "I do, and I love the song. It feels really powerful."
Sir Tom then revealed: "I recorded with Portishead." His co-stars were left gobsmacked, with Will.i.am exclaiming "What?! God damn!"
Sir Tom went on: "I did an album called Reload, I got everybody on that I liked and Portishead was one of those bands." He added to the contestant: "And I loved the way you sang it."
Sir Tom's love for the show
Sir Tom has returned to The Voice UK this year, after previously sharing his love for the show. In an interview on The One Show in 2014, he described it as "the perfect job".
The legendary singer continued: "I like listening to new voices and hopefully I can give some advice." He went on: "So it's the perfect job for me - well it's not really a job - it's something that I love to do.
"I still feel the same way now because this is the 13th series, so I still feel the same way now as I did when we started because you get new voices all the time, new people coming on."
Return to the show
Sir Tom returned to The Voice UK after being dropped for its fifth series and replaced by Boy George. The show had originally aired on the BBC, before moving to ITV from its sixth series, when Sir Tom returned.
Sir Tom later said: "I wasn't really upset with the BBC. But whoever was responsible made a mistake." He went on to discuss the importance of musicians believing in themselves amid the "knockbacks" they face.
He said: "There's a knockback right there, at my time of life - to prove to these young singers coming on the show that even I got a knockback, after all that time. Then you've got to think - it's their loss. I knew what the public felt because of the feedback I had."
The Voice is available to watch on ITVX.
