How does it feel to be back?
It feels amazing! It feels so good. I can’t believe it’s my fifth season. On my phone it came up with it being five years ago in 2017, me on set for the first time doing all the promo. It’s just like wow! I can’t believe it’s been this long but still the same excitement, still the same feeling. I still love it, I love being here, it’s great.
What specifically are you looking for this year?
You know what, this year I want fun characters, people that have great fun personalities, I don’t want anything too serious and I just want to feel good, I want to feel happy, I want something that is going to entertain the people at home watching. I want them to be laughing and having a good time, I think that’s really important, so that’s what I am looking for.
Anne-Marie is back for her second series, what does she bring to the panel?
It’s so lovely to have her back because I think some people come and do one year and have work commitments and leave. It’s great that Anne-Marie decided to come back again because she really does bring spontaneity I think. She’s really spontaneous on the chair and I love that about her, you never quite know what she is going to do next. She’s very unpredictable. She’s also a really cool fresh artist so it’s nice to have her opinion and have a fellow Essex person on the panel.
What do you think your chances of winning this year are?
I think it’s a really even playing field, we have four coaches on the show that have all won individually at some point. We’ve all won the show, so now everyone knows what it takes to do it. I think this year because of the new format, the new changes, it’s a lot sleeker and a lot quicker to get to that final now. So we’ve got to think fast, we’ve got to coach fast and we are going to have to pick the right people and hopefully the public will see that and love it. I think it’s a real race this year. It’s all against all.
Who is the most competitive?
I would have to say myself, I mean I’m competitive with myself. I genuinely think I’m the most competitive and I know when you speak to other coaches, they’ll probably say the same. Just because I’m not afraid to show it, I think they’re all competitive but they don’t want to show it. Apart from me, I definitely think Anne-Marie, she has the same fire that I have. She has the same desire in everything she does. She’s a karate world champion, you know she wants to win everything and I can see that. She won The Voice last year, she’s going to want to win again, me and her are probably the most competitive.
Has having the audience there made a difference to the performers and their nerves and also your experience?
There is nothing small about that audience, they are loud. They are behind the contestants and if It’s getting hostile, you know they are having a go at us for not pressing our buttons. They are brilliant. It’s so lovely to have that again, that unpredictability of an audience. Where you’re not sure what’s gonna happen. How are they going to react to someone? And you know they are helping the contestants, they are their sort of.. that’s their coach, their mentor, pushing the contestants over the line, sometimes some of these contestants might have come last year and it might have been a completely different experience and we might have not turned for them. But having a crowd here just gives that extra push that they need.
Do you think the performers are more nervous now there is an audience?
So much more nervous, they really are, you can see and hear when they actually come out that slight breath. They know it’s a bigger deal now because the crowd is back and you’ve got to remember all of us are also singers. They haven’t been on stage probably for a long time in front of a live audience so it’s the added ‘oh my God, I am actually here’ so you know, really exciting and really amazing to have everyone here and so far, the contestants have all smashed it so it’s been great.
Has anything funny happened on set, you can tell us about?
Nothing just yet, no but obviously the Block Button has come into play because all the other coaches do is block me, Tom and I had a great block battle so I got him and he got me and then Anne-Marie’s got me for a second year running and most likely will get me again so in two years since the block button was introduced, i’ve basically been blocked six times it looks like. But I take that as a compliment.
Describe each coach in three words?
Tom – Gentleman, hilarious, God.
Anne Marie – Spontaneous, unpredictable, sassy,
Will I Am – Crazy, genius, funny
