Sir Tom Jones has reportedly declined an offer from ITV to appear as a "super guest judge" on The Voice UK, after he was dropped as a coach for the upcoming series.
The legendary Welsh singer had previously claimed that ITV had "fired" him from the show. Following news of his absence from the panel, Sir Tom revealed he had been offered a scaled-back role but was "not thrilled" about the proposition.
No future cameo appearances
It has now emerged that Sir Tom turned down the "super guest judge" position and will not be making any future cameo appearances on the programme. The forthcoming series, which will feature Cheryl and Aitch on the panel, is expected to hit screens next year.
A source told The Sun: "It all got pretty messy and Tom and his team were furious about how things played out. ITV had hoped he would return in some capacity, but it isn't happening."
Destiny's Child reunion hopes
Following Kelly Rowland's debut as a coach on this year's show, the insider also revealed she is keen to bring bandmate Michelle Williams over for a mini Destiny's Child reunion, reports Wales Online.
The insider added: "They are now hoping the big pull, along with the return of Cheryl, will be a mini reunion for Destiny's Child."
The Mirror has approached ITV and Sir Tom's representative for comment.
Sir Tom's public statement
Sir Tom previously posted on social media: "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."
An ITV spokesperson had previously stated: "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."
Long-standing passion for the show
Sir Tom has long expressed his passion for The Voice UK, telling The One Show in 2024 that it was "the perfect job". The music legend went on to say: "I like listening to new voices and hopefully I can give some advice."
He added: "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."
Sir Tom made his return to The Voice UK having been axed from its fifth series and replaced by Boy George. The programme originally launched on the BBC in 2012 before switching to ITV from its sixth series, coinciding with Sir Tom's comeback.
Sir Tom subsequently commented: "I wasn't really upset with the BBC. But whoever was responsible made a mistake." He went on: "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 UK continues Saturday, October 17 at 8.35pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
