The Voice UK is finally back for a new series - but this time round there is a massive twist to the format. Those imposing big red spinning chairs are returning once again along with coaches Sir Tom Jones, Olly Murs, Will.i.am and Anne-Marie.
It's been a very long wait as we're used to seeing the singing contest air much earlier in the year, but ITV bosses have decided to move it to an autumn slot and air the show back to back with The Masked Dancer. Fan favourite Emma Willis is also back on presenting duties and there will be the usual Blind Auditions - then rejected singers will be given another chance.
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In new round, The Callbacks, some contestants who had no one turn round for them will get a second shot at making it through to the semi-finals.
Speaking about the upcoming series, Anne-Marie said: "It feels so good to be back! I had the most amazing time last series, and I am so excited to be returning to my big red chair. Winning with Craig last series was a special moment and I am determined to keep a hold of my crown!"
Troublemaker Olly Murs agreed: "I cannot wait to be reunited with The Voice UK family! We always have so much fun making the show and I'm sure this series will be no exception. "Anne-Marie needs to watch out because this series I'm taking back the title!"
Veteran coach Sir Tom Jones commented: “Whenever I’m back in The Voice UK studio, my expectations are exceeded. I love the anticipation of hearing unknown singers and I can’t wait to see what’s in store this time around!”
While Will.i.am added: "I'm excited to be returning to the UK, my second home, as we start filming the next series of The Voice UK. Discovering fresh and unique voices is what this show is all about, so I am looking forward to meeting Britain's next wave of talent."
With the new series starting tonight, hHere is a look at what happened to previous winners.
Craig Eddie - 2021
The reigning champion of The Voice is Craig Eddie, who gave mentor Anne-Marie victory in her first ever series.
Craig was initially speechless before admitting he was not expecting the victory. "My head is still in the clouds. I’m still coming down from it, as a surreal experience I still feel like I’m dreaming," he said the morning after his win.
It's just relief, because I’ve wanted this so much and I was really surprised as well, because I didn’t expect it. I think everyone saw that on my face that I was just so surprised!"
Craig, who worked in an Asda warehouse and at Greggs before becoming a singing sensation, made it to Number 6 in ghe UK charts with his song Come Waste My Time.
It was the best-performing self-written winner’s single and Craig
In February this year, Craig got a tattoo on his face, a semi-colon beside his left eyebrow. Explaining what it meant, he wrote: "Semi-colon. Where the author could have ended their sentence but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life."
Blessing Chitapa - 2020
Blessing had an agonising wait for the semi-finals as they were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, but clearly had no impact on her sensational performances.
A staggering 10 months after the first auditions aired, Blessing was crowned the winner in November 2020 at the age of just 18.
Blessing branded the victory her "biggest achievement yet", adding: "I am so proud of how far I have come and I'm so intrigued to see what the future holds for me!
"I'm hoping my new single Angels can bless and inspire people to think about a certain someone in their life who has always been there for them."
Olly promised to dance naked if he won and he stayed true to his word - to the joy or dismay of many.
Following her win, Olly said: "Blessing absolutely deserves to be crowned the winner of this year's Voice UK! I've always believed in her from the start, and to think that I was the only Coach who turned for her is amazing.
"She's got an incredible voice, infectious personality and has a bright future ahead of her. I can't wait to see what she does next."
Her winner's single, a cover of Robbie Williams' Angels, only reached No.50 in the UK charts and follow-up song I Smile did even worse at 63.
Blessing performed the track, which came from debut album Count My Blessings, during last year's final and her single Stay With Me was released in March.
Molly Hocking - 2019
Molly Hocking won the show back in 2019 when she was just 18-years-old - and looked pretty stunned by the result. After her name was announced as the winner, Molly was left in tears as she told host Emma Willis: "Someone pinch me!"
"All I can say is thank you," Molly added. "From the bottom of my heart I am so - I'm shocked, I love you all."
Molly gave The Voice coach Olly Murs his first victory with a contestant and told him: "I'm so so glad you that you stuck with me through this and you are my inspiration now. You are my inspiration."
Her winning single, a cover of 'I'll Never Love Again' from A Star Is Born, only reached No. 73 in the UK Singles Chart but was number one on iTunes.
Molly was due to release her second single in March after performing it at The Voice semi-final, but has been forced to delay amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Everything was ready and you start building up and getting really excited, and then you get that phone call and it's like ‘The Voice has been postponed’ and my heart sank," she told ITV News in June.
While in lockdown, Molly continued writing songs and performing her music online. She sang her new single After The Night Before during lthe 2020 semi-final of The Voice and is confident of her future success.
"I’m going to make it. I will”, she told Cornwall Live. "I’ve got a drive and I want to get there. I’m a different type of artist to what’s out there at the moment."
Ruti Olajugbagbe - 2018
There was a surprise result in 2018 when 18-year-old Ruti Olajugbagbe beat favourite Donel Mangena in a tense final. "I wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t expect to get to the blind audition. I don’t know what to say," said Ruti as she held back tears.
Coach Tom Jones was incredibly impressed of the singer - stating on many occasions how her voice made him feel proud and touched him emotionally.
She signed a record deal with Polydor Records and her debut single, Dreams, reached number one on the UK iTunes Store and number 14 on the UK Singles charts.
Speaking a year after her win, Sir Tom told The Metro: "My career wasn’t overnight so I think our instant gratification doesn’t really allow an artist to develop. Ruti doesn’t have an album out yet, but when she has album out she’ll be on her way."
Her second song only reached number 49 and she was dropped by her label shortly afterwards.
Mo Adeniran - 2017
Mo was working night shifts in a hotel before he got his chance to shine on The Voice. The singer had a troubled childhood in care and one of his good friends and bandmate Mike died from a drug overdose when he was a teen.
He was also friends with Viola Beach, the tragic group who were killed when their car went off a bridge in Sweden.
During his audition, Mo sang Paulo Nutini's A Change is Gonna Come in an emotional performance that had all four coaches spinning round, so he decided to go with US actress and singer Jennifer Hudson.
Mo was a hit with the audience and won the final against The Ark. Once the show was over he released single Unsteady under the stage name Mo Jamil, which made little chart impact and peaked at number 78.
However during the press launch for the 2018 Voice series, his former coach Jennifer, revealed he had big plans for 2018 and was going to release new material, which she was very excited about.
The single, That Feeling, from his debut album reached number 22 on the iTunes chart before falling down. The album Evolve was released in March 2018 and peaked at number 36 - and he was dropped by Polydor Records shortly afterwards.
Kevin Simm - 2016
Kevin Simm was already a familiar face before he auditioned - as he was once a member of hit band Liberty X.
Once the group broke up in 2007 he fell back on gigging in pubs and clubs but he eventually plucked up the courage to compete on The Voice in an attempt to re-launch his pop career.
It clearly worked out for Kevin as he won the competition and made a phoenix-like return to the UK Charts. His winner's single All You Good Friends looked like it was heading for the top 10 but eventually peaked at number 24 in the charts.
He went on to release his first solo album Recover in October 2016, which hit number 40 in the chart. But Kevin was controversially not invited back to perform on the following year's show as the reigning champion as is tradition.
Responding to a fan asking why he wouldn't appear, Kevin tweeted: "Guess they wanted a clean break from BBC version... but then they hired the same presenter, will.i.am, Tom Jones etc so maybe not that."
His career took a bizarre twist in 2018 when he joined Wet Wet Wet as their new frontman - replacing founding member Marti Pellow - with the band going on a nationwide 18-date tour in 2019.
Stevie McCrorie - 2015
Stevie McCrorie actually bucked the trend of previous winners by having success with his first ever single.
Ricky Wilson's protege reached number six with Lost Stars in 2015 and still holds the record as the only winner of The Voice to secure a top 10 single.
Admitting he was teased by his colleagues after his success on the show, the fire fighter told ITV's Lorraine: "They support me, but you obviously get a lot of stick! I popped back in over Christmas, and they were making jokes about whether the single was going to chart."
Everyone was hoping for Stevie to become The Voice's first success story but he played down the chances of his debut album of original material reaching No. 1.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz about the record, he said: "A number one album would mean I'm living in the clouds. I don't think that is going to happen, but if it did happen I'd be over the moon. I'm not being negative, but I just can't see that happening."
Unfortunately, Stevie was right as his 2016 album Big World only reached No. 35 in the charts. In 2019, Stevie told Radio Times that he realised almost immediately that he was with the wrong label and management team.
Just a year after winning, Stevie returned to his job as a firefighter in Kirkcaldy, because he needed to support his wife and young daughter.
However, Stevie turned his garage at home into a studio where he continued to make music, releasing three-track Ep Alive in 2017 and single All I Want.
Jermain Jackman - 2014
Jermain Jackman didn't just want to win The Voice - he had ambitions of getting into 10 Downing Street. The singer wanted to become Prime Minister, or Mayor of London if that role wasn't available.
While those things didn't happen, Jermain did manage to win one public vote as he was crowned The Voice champion in 2014.
At first it seemed like The Voice UK could finally have found its first breakout star but his first single And I Am Telling You only hit 75 in the charts. His debut album sold a disappointing 613 physical copies during its first week of release.
Despite a number of public appearances, it wasn't to be for Jermain as he decided to quit the music industry and head to university.
Speaking to TellyMix at the time, he revealed: "I've stepped back from music for now. I saw some things I didn’t like and I was losing the love for music. Maybe I’ll come back when I’m 23 and I’ve got my degree in politics."
After going back to study politics, the Labour supporter set up the Islington Fair Futures Commission, which he is chair of and which looks to improve the prospects of young people in the borough.
However, he did manage to merge his two passions by appearing at the Labour Live festival in 2018 alongside Clean Bandit and Jeremy Corbyn.
Andrea Begley - 2013
There was a shock winner in 2013 when Andrea Begley came out on top - but not everyone was happy.
The Script singer Danny O'Donoghue was delighted with the result, but co-coach Will.i.am was reportedly so outraged he stormed off the set as he believed his act and hot favourite Leah McFall should have won.
The Black Eyed Peas singer sparked a backlash by tweeting: "You should feel the audience's vibration in the room tonight after the public's vote... its unexplainable... so sad... perplexed."
Obviously feeling some remorse, he followed it up with: "Andrea is amazing... don't get me wrong... but we know who has the incredible voice."
The pair did managed to clear the air but Wills' comments clearly didn't give Andrea the best chance at immediate chart success. Debut album The Message stuttered when it was first released, selling under 2,000 copies over its first few days, but it peaked at No. 7 in the charts.
Andrea was signed to Capitol Records for about a year and a half until it "went quiet". In 2017, she told Radio Times she wasn't surprised she didn't see huge success after her win and she wanted to release a second album of her own music rather than what the record label wanted.
"It was a bit disappointing, but at the same time I got to walk away from the situation knowing I had a top 10 album, which is a heck of lot more than most people," she said.
The partially-sighted singer became an ambassador for sight loss charity Royal National Institute of Blind People in Northern Ireland and wrote a book, cheekily titled I Didn't See That Coming.
Andrea went back to studying part time for a PhD while working for the Government in Belfast but released the single Never a Pal Like Mother on iTunes in 2017.
Leanne Mitchell - 2012
Leanne Mitchell was the first ever winner of The Voice back in 2012 - but she got off to a very bad start.
For various reasons, Leanne did not set things in the right direction with a combination of poor album sales and public criticism of the talent show. Her debut solo single, Run To You, was released the day after she won but it only reached No. 45 in the charts.
The Script frontman Danny O'Donoghue, who was a coach at the time, said he didn't feel much disappointment about Leanne's lack of chart success, claiming she was technically the best singer but not the best artist.
Her self-titled debut album had an even worse fate than her debut single, selling only 895 copies in the first few days and failing to even make it into the top 100.
Will.i.am claimed that "someone should get slapped" for the delay in getting the album out as Leanne had become less relevant as time had passed.
But things really got heated when Danny blasted Leanne's work ethic and said her failure to become a pop sensation undermined the credibility of the show in a brutal rant.
When asked about her poor album sales, he told The Sun: "That's not my fault, that's not the show's fault, that's not the BBC's fault, that's just her fault. You can take an artist like that and question their work ethic.
"I was told by Tom Jones, and by the label as well, that Leanne just did not want to work as hard as you have to work to be a popstar."
Furious Leanne fired back in a Twitter rant, claiming she had "worked her backside off" writing her album and felt like she was used as a "scapegoat".
She replied: "Unfortunately, I don't think anyone was particularly on my side from the start. I never wanted to speak up, as I suppose the next thing will be I'm 'bitter', which I'm not, at all."
Leanne, who married her boyfriend and had a baby, was dropped from her record label in 2014 and was last known to be singing on cruise ships.
*A new series of The Voice UK starts tonight on ITV at 9pm
