Sir Tom Jones blasts the BBC for sacking him from The Voice

Sir Tom Jones has spoken out about the BBC’s decision to axe him as a judge on The Voice and has labelled the corporation’s move a ‘mistake’.

The 76-year-old Welsh singing legend was given the boot with just a day’s notice back in 2015 and was replaced by Boy George.

Speaking to Yahoo! Celeb at The Voice UK press launch he said the personal ‘knockback’ was definitely detrimental to the show as ratings plummeted after he left.

He said: “I thought to myself it’s the BBC’s loss because I knew what the public felt because of all of the feedback I was getting.

“The last series I wasn’t a part of, the ratings went down and that made me very happy.”

Tom Jones has called his sacking from The Voice in 2015 as a ‘mistake’ by the BBC [PA]

The Sex Bomb hit maker is now gearing up to make a triumphant return to the talent contest, which is now being broadcast by ITV, after being reinstated on the judging panel.

The revamped show will make its debut on Saturday night, with two new judges, the Oscar and Bafta-winning singer Jennifer Hudson and singer Gavin Rossdale, as well as will.i.am, who moved with the show from the BBC.

Talking about her new stint, Jennifer said: “I’m really enjoying being on the other side, it’s so fresh in my mind when I was a contestant trying to get there.

The singer, who finished as a finalist on American Idol, added: “I already lived that moment and when I’m here, it sends me right back.”

Meanwhile, will.i.am didn’t shy away from the fact that unlike The X Factor with Leona Lewis and Britain’s Got Talent with Susan Boyle, the Voice UK has failed over six seasons to make a successful artist out of its winners.

Despite the show’s track-record he said he is feeling optimistic now the winner will be signing a record deal with Polydor instead of Universal.

The Black Eyed Peas star said: “It’s all about song choice and I think that’s the real reason we haven’t seen a superstar from the show, because the songs they end up singing are like ‘whatever’.”

“The mellow songs are bad and the hyper songs are bad and that’s one of the reasons I feel Polydor in the mix is going to help change that. Getting new songs for the artist is important.”

We couldn’t agree more!