Tom Jones says The Voice stars were 'ready to call each other out' after row with bosses
The Voice star Sir Tom Jones has revealed the show’s judges were “very dismissive” of an idea pitched by television bosses.
Tom says producers originally floated the idea of scripting the song contest, but their plans “bit the dust” shortly after being touted. Instead, they provided judges with a book of lines they could say if they were stuck.
He says before the series moved to ITV, BBC bosses were concerned about someone getting “lost for words”. But the coaches themselves disapproved of leaning on the pre-written comments.
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In his autobiography, Over the Top and Back, Tom writes: “The idea of scripting the show might have bitten the dust very fast, but they still gave you a book with some suggestions for lines in it - things you might plausibly say at certain points in the show. It’s live television after all: there’s no value in anyone getting lost for words.
“But we were all very dismissive of the book - and ready to call each other out for using it. You caught someone using a line from the book, you shot them a look: ‘I know where you got that line from’.”
The 84-year-old singer says bosses were keen on giving the famous coaches ideas to keep the show fresh, something he says Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson initially struggled to get to grips with.
Tom says the producers were “coming at [Ricky] with stuff” on his first day, having replaced The Script’s Danny O'Donoghue. The Welshman says the frontman began feeling “overwhelmed” as the newbie.
Tom, however, “calmed him down”, which “cemented” their relationship. Ricky starred with the Sexbomb singer for two series before Boy George was brought in to replace Sir Tom.
However, the Welsh icon was brought back into the fold for the sixth series of the show, with The Voice moving to ITV. Ricky then left, with Olly Murs joining the panel for six series.
The current series' grand finale airs on ITV1 and ITVX at 8.10pm today (Saturday, October 26). Sir Tom is currently joined on the coaching panel by will.i.am, country star LeAnn Rimes, and McFly duo Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones.
