Heartbroken Sir Tom Jones BLASTS ITV after being axed from The Voice & says he was blindsided by bosses at last minute

SIR TOM Jones has furiously spoken out after being dropped by ITV as a coach on The Voice UK. The legendary musician, 86, slammed the broadcaster for telling him about the decision at the last minute – and claimed it was because of ‘financial difficulty’ in the channel. Tom Jones has spoken out after being axed from The Voice Credit: Handout Tom has appeared on the show since its launch in 2012 Credit: Rex Taking to Instagram, Tom wrote: “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 just told recently. The reason given is because of a financial difficulty with insurance. Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter Thank you! “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 making 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. Tom took to Instagram to share his side of the story Credit: instagram/sirtomjones Tom claimed he was told at the last minute about his axing Credit: Getty Images – Getty “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.” The comment section of the post was flooded with gutted fans and supportive friends sharing their shock at the decision by ITV. The Sun revealed on Monday that Tom had been dropped from his long-standing red-chair on the show. Show sources told The Sun earlier this week they were ‘sad to see him go’ and that, with a new line-up of judges, there wasn’t a seat left. Most read in Showbiz The Sun previously revealed rapper Aitch was to replace McFly duo Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher, who are leaving the show. Former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl is also set to make her primetime TV comeback as a coach, while rapper will.i.am is returning with Kelly Rowland. 13 comments13