Sir Tom Jones has reportedly turned down an offer from ITV to appear as a “super guest judge role” on The Voice UK. The Welsh singer recently claimed ITV had “fired” him from the show in an explosive statement. After news that he would not be appearing on the panel for the upcoming series, Sir Tom said he had been offered a reduced role, but was “not thrilled” about it.
Rejected role and future cameo ruled out
It has now been claimed that Sir Tom rejected the role he had been offered as a “super guest judge”, and that he won’t be returning for a future cameo. The next series will see Cheryl and Aitch on the panel, and is expected to air 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
After Kelly Rowland made her debut as a coach on the show this year, the insider claimed that she is hoping to fly bandmate Michelle Williams over for a mini Destiny’s Child reunion. 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.”
Wales Online has approached ITV and Sir Tom’s representative for comment.
Sir Tom’s statement on his exit
Sir Tom previously shared 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."
He added: "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 also previously 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."
Previous praise for the show
Sir Tom previously shared his love for The Voice UK, saying on The One Show in 2024 that it was “the perfect job”. The legendary singer continued: “I like listening to new voices and hopefully I can give some advice. So it's the perfect job for me - well it's not really a job - it's something that I love to do.”
He went on: "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 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, premiering in 2012, 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, saying: "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.
