Sir Tom Jones has thanked his supporters for backing him after his abrupt departure from The Voice UK.
The Delilah singer was one of The Voice UK’s original coaches, and had been part of the show’s panel for every series bar one until earlier this month, when it was announced he would no longer be judging the upcoming series.
“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,” an ITV rep told HuffPost UK when the news was confirmed.
Meanwhile, the man himself later claimed that it was not his decision to leave The Voice UK’s panel, accusing bosses of “firing” him “because of a financial difficulty with insurance”.
ITV/Rachel Joseph/Shutterstock
In the weeks that have followed, many fans have been voicing their disappointment in ITV’s decision, with a Change.org petition calling for The Voice UK to reinstate him having reached more than 60,000 signatures at the time of writing.
“So many heartfelt messages, comments and even petitions of support,” the 86-year-old wrote on social media on Sunday. “It doesn’t go unnoticed and it’s been really lovely to receive these! Thank you!”
This message was shared alongside a clip of Sir Tom from the most recent season of The Voice UK, in which he was heard crooning one of his signature hits, It’s Not Unusual.
In his previous statement, Sir Tom claimed: “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.”