Simon Cowell may have stolen Rita Ora from ‘The Voice’, but he’s not done with sticking the boot into the rival talent show yet.
MORE 'X FACTOR':
- The 20 Best 'X Factor' Auditions Ever
- The 30 Worst 'X Factor' Auditions Ever
- 20 Of The X Factor's Most Hilarious Moments
- The Definitive Ranking Of X Factor's Greatest Ever Performances
- Which ‘X Factor' Judge Are You?
- What Happened To The Contestants Of 'X Factor' Past?
- How Many Past 'X Factor' Finalists Do You Recognise Now?
The ‘X Factor’ boss has revealed he wants to sign Tom Jones up for the new series of his ITV show, after the Welsh crooner was axed by BBC bosses and replaced by Boy George.
Tom Jones has been axed from 'The Voice'
Speaking to HuffPost UK and other reporters on the red carpet of the ‘X Factor’ press launch, Si said of Sir Tom: “I’d love to put him on one of the Judge’s Homes, 100%.”
It comes after BBC chief Danny Cohen apologised to Tom, insisting he’d like to sign him up for another show.
Tom previously lashed out at producers on Facebook, accusing them of “sub-standard behaviour”, having only found out he was being axed on the day the new coaching line-up was revealed.
‘The Voice’ also drafted in Paloma Faith to replace Rita after she quit in favour of ‘The X Factor’, and Simon revealed how the ‘Only Love Can Hurt Like This’ singer phoned him for his advice before signing to the BBC show.
The newly-bearded Simon Cowell
“Paloma called me about two weeks ago and that she’d been offered the show - good money - asking what I thought,” Simon explained. “I said do it.
“Me and Paloma are friends and, not that she wanted my consent, but she wanted my feeling on it and I thought it’s perfect for her.”
Paloma Faith has also joined 'The Voice'
Of stealing Rita, he added: “I watched her on ‘The Voice’ and my heart sunk because I thought she was really good. I saw her at the Brits and said ‘thanks a lot for choosing them’.Once we met and I reminded her that she was on 'The X Factor' before 'The Voice', and said, ‘can you come back please?’”
Rita and Simon will be seen alongside Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Nick Grimshaw when ‘The X Factor’ returns on Saturday (29 August) at 8pm on ITV.