The Voice is a 'waste of time', says former winner

The Voice has been slammed by one of its own winners, as musician Kevin Simm branded the show a "waste of f***ing time".First airing on the BBC in 2012 before moving to ITV in 2017, the music competition series sees contestants take part in "blind auditions", where the judges must vote for the contestants they want to mentor without hearing them.A member of the band Liberty X, Simm, 46, competed on the show in 2016 where he was mentored by Paloma Faith, but has now claimed that the show "never does anything for the winners".Simm performing on The Voice in its last year on the BBCGuy Levy/BBC"As much as my time on The Voice was brilliant, I do think that show is just a waste of f***ing time," he told Closer Magazine."It never does anything for the winners, why is it still on television?"The Standard has contacted ITV for comment.Winners of The Voice receive a recording contract with Universal Music Group, under which Simm put out the single "All You Good Friends", which peaked at number 24 in the UK charts, and a solo album.Simm (third from right) with the recently reunited Liberty X and Hear’SayPAHe later went on to join "Love is All Around" band Wet Wet Wet as their frontman, and recently rejoined Liberty X on their upcoming reunion tour with fellow Popstars band Hear'Say.While The Voice winners are not guaranteed success as winners of The X Factor were at the height of the show's fame and the majority of the music produced by its contestants fail to break the UK top 40, there have been a number of notable success stories.The current UK number one song is "Babydoll" by Jamie Miller, a Welsh musician who finished third place on the show in 2017 and has found huge viral success this summer. Miller, 29, is the first Welsh artist in 15 years to get a number one single in the UK.Another chart topper is Becky Hill, who appeared on the first series. Hill, 32, is well known for her vocals on drum & bass and electronic tracks, and topped the chart with her song "Gecko (Overdrive)".Tom Jones claimed he was ‘fired’ from the show amid a bit by ITV to reboot the seriesPA ArchiveThe show has recently faced a significant overhaul, with long-standing coach will.i.am to be joined on the next series by returning judge Kelly Rowland, while singer Cheryl and rapper Aitch are also joining for the first time.Read MoreIn a statement shared to his Instagram account last month, Jones, 86, alleged that he had not wanted to leave the series but that the decision had come from ITV.A show spokesperson told The Standard at the time: "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."