Sir Tom Jones is still raging at the BBC following his unexpected axe from The Voice, telling the broadcaster to “go f**k themselves” in an angry rant.
The “Sex Bomb” singer, 75, had been a judge since the talent contest launched in 2012, but bosses decided to replace him with Boy George for the new series.
Jones claims he was not given any warning before being dropped. Son and manager Mark Woodward broke the news to him in August, to which Jones replied: “I don’t give a f**k. I enjoyed it but if they don’t want me any more they can go f**k themselves.”
Jones alleges that he was made aware of the move just 24 hours before the official announcement was shared by the BBC, without “consultation or conversation of any kind”.
“Being informed, as a matter of duty and respect, is an important part of creative relationships,” he wrote on Facebook at the time, adding that he does “support and admire creative change”.
“This sub-standard behaviour from the executives is very disappointing.”
Jones also wrote in his autobiography Over the Top and Back: The Autobiography that the BBC is a “cold place” and “sometimes you wonder whether it’s run by humans or a machine in a basement.”
Boy George has paid tribute to his predecessor, saying he has “absolute respect” for Jones, while fellow new judge Paloma Faith called him “a national treasure and a legend”.
Danny Cohen, BBC TV chief, described Jones as an “extraordinary figure in music” and said he was “truly sorry” that he had been upset, vowing to put him back on TV “in “something else”.
The Voice is expected to return in early 2016.
