Sir Tom Jones Reveals He Was Fired From ‘The Voice UK’
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Sir Tom Jones has said ITV offered him a much smaller role on The Voice UK, appearing only later in the process rather than being involved from the start, though it remains unclear whether he has accepted this arrangement. Confirming his exit from the judging panel, the 86-year-old said ITV cited "a financial difficulty with insurance" and a wish to refresh the coaching lineup, insisting he did not want to leave and was only told recently despite the decision reportedly having been made some time ago. The current 14th series looks set to be his last after more than a decade on the show, and his departure has drawn a wave of support from fellow coaches.
Olly Murs and will.i.am, both long-serving colleagues on the panel, publicly backed Jones after the news broke, with Murs calling him "an absolute legend" and will.i.am responding with a flood of emotional emojis. Jones was an original panellist when The Voice UK launched in 2012, missing only one series, and mentored three winners over the years, including Leanne Mitchell and Ruti Olajugbagbe. He joked there is "never a good time to fire an 86-year-old who's still pretty good at his job"; ITV had not responded to a request for comment.
- Tom Jones confirms ITV offered him a reduced Voice UK role, not full-time
- He blames insurance costs and a panel refresh for his exit
- Olly Murs and will.i.am publicly voiced support for him
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Sir Tom Jones has been on The Voice UK since it began in 2012, one of the original coaches alongside stars such as will.i.am, and is well known for mentoring contestants through the singing competition. He has now revealed that ITV decided to remove him from the show, with the series currently on air due to be his last in his usual role. He is 86 and had been a fixture of the programme for well over a decade.
The show works by having celebrity coaches, including Olly Murs and will.i.am, listen to singers audition and then guide their chosen contestants through the competition. Jones has been credited with mentoring three series winners over the years. His departure matters because he has become one of the most recognisable faces of the format, and any change to the coaching panel affects how the show is perceived by its long-time audience.
The situation has drawn attention partly because of how it was handled, with Jones saying he only found out recently, and partly because colleagues on the show have spoken up in support of him. ITV is the broadcaster behind The Voice UK and is responsible for decisions about who appears on the panel each series.
Full account
Sir Tom Jones has said he is being removed as a coach on The Voice UK, telling fans on social media that ITV informed him only recently of a decision the broadcaster apparently made some time ago. In a statement posted to Instagram, the 86-year-old singer said he had been given a specific reason for his departure: a "financial difficulty with insurance". He was careful to stress that leaving was not his choice, writing that he loves the show and is grateful to its audience, and closing with a wry aside that "there's never a good time to fire an 86-year-old who's still pretty good at his job".
Jones indicated that ITV had also pointed to a broader shake-up of the coaching panel, telling him publicly that the show wanted to "refresh" its line-up and that, under a reshaped panel, no chair would remain for him. According to his account, the broadcaster subsequently offered him a scaled-back involvement, appearing on the programme without being part of it from the outset — an arrangement he said he was not pleased about. It remains unclear from his statement whether he intends to accept that reduced role, and ITV had not issued a public response to his comments at the time of reporting.
The picture is complicated by a separate report, credited to the Press Association and carried by The Independent, in which an unnamed insider close to the show insisted that no final break had occurred: ITV was said to still be in talks with Jones and hopeful he would remain involved, adding that the broadcaster "absolutely loves working with Sir Tom". That account sits in tension with Jones's own characterisation of events as a dismissal already decided. Reaction among his fellow coaches was warmer and more straightforward: Olly Murs, a former panel colleague, publicly backed him as "one of the very best to ever sit in that chair", while will.i.am, who has coached alongside Jones on every series to date, responded to the post with a flood of crying-face emojis.
Jones has been one of the defining faces of The Voice UK since the format launched in 2012, missing only one series along the way, when Boy George briefly took his seat before he returned the following year. Across his time on the show he has mentored three winning acts. The current, fourteenth series finds him alongside Kelly Rowland, will.i.am, and McFly's Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones. Away from the show, Jones remains a major recording and touring artist more than sixty years after his breakthrough with hits such as "It's Not Unusual" and "What's New Pussycat?", a career that has spanned over forty albums, a Grammy for Best New Artist and a North American tour due to begin later this month.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 frames the current series as apparently Jones's last and gives detail on his tenure history (missing only series five, replaced by Boy George) and the three winners he mentored (Leanne Mitchell, Ruti Olajugbagbe, Anthonia Edwards); Source 2 gives a slightly different account of his history, describing a 2012–2015 stint followed by a gap and a 2017 return once the show had moved to ITV.
Source 2 includes a countervailing claim, via the Press Association/The Independent, that an ITV insider says talks are ongoing and the broadcaster hopes Jones will return — a detail Source 1 omits, leaving Source 1's account reading more definitively as a firing.
Source 1 reports on-the-record supportive reactions from Olly Murs and will.i.am; Source 2 does not mention these responses.
Source 2 notes Jones's imminent North American tour and includes promotional ticket information; Source 1 does not mention the tour and instead closes with more career/biographical detail (Grammy win, album history).
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