Beloved Welsh musician Tom Jones has claimed he’s been fired from The Voice U.K. over “financial difficulty with insurance.”
The “It’s Not Unusual” and “What’s New Pussycat?” singer has featured on the British competition show on and off since it first aired on the BBC in 2012. Having been on the coaching panel for three years, Jones took a break before rejoining when The Voice U.K. moved to ITV, where it’s now produced by Lifted Entertainment, an ITV Studios company.
On Instagram on Tuesday, the 86-year-old said he has been let go as a judge and criticized the limited role he was offered instead. “To be clear, I did not want to leave The Voice as I love the show and really appreciate the audience,” he wrote. “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 continued. “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.”
