The Voice star Tom Jones claims show’s first winner Leanne Mitchell flopped due to weight gain
THE Voice judge Sir Tom Jones has claimed the show's first winner Leanne Mitchell flopped because she put on weight.
Leanne, 33, still holds her previous job as a holiday camp singer despite winning the inaugural competition, then on the BBC, in 2012 and landing a record deal.
Sir Tom, 76, who mentored Leanne and reprises his role on the ITV show this weekend, claims the Lowestoft tenor's failure to lose weight led to her failure in the industry.
He said: "Leanne Mitchell, the girl who won the first one - she was singing at a holiday camp and she still is. And she wasn't bothered much.
"When she first came on the show, I thought about [her] trimming down a bit but she had gotten comfortable in this holiday camp and she'd put on some weight from it - from what she was when she was younger and from footage from when she had a record deal from years before.
"[She took] the opportunity of winning The Voice and a chance of getting a record deal which she did, but she put on more weight, got more comfortable with the boyfriend who then maybe became her
husband."
Leanne's eponymous debut album was branded a "huge flop" when it was released in 2013 and she was dropped from her label the next year.
But Sir Tom, whose wife of 59-years Linda Trenchard died last year, says that her image and lack of drive were crucial reasons why her career didn't take off.
He continued: "She didn't have the drive. It didn't seem like she grabbed hold of it with both hands and said 'This is my chance now'.
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"Because she'd had a chance a few years before that and it didn't pan out because she didn't want it. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that but that's the reason why.
"She had everything there; she's a good-looking girl, she has a tremendous voice but you have to have that desire. If you just want to sing at a holiday camp that's what you'll do and that's what she is doing.
"She's satisfied with that so you have to have it within yourself even though you have all the help from the coaches and the show itself, and with all that exposure, you've got to still want it. And then you will do something with it."
The Voice fans reacted with shock to the singer's comments, as it sparked an online row, with some calling for him to be sacked, while others defended his remarks.
One tweeted: "I thought the whole point of The Voice, was to avoid judging people by the way the look? Real talent comes in many forms."
But some defended the star, with one writing: "Yeah" it's the return of the voice, can't wait to see @RealSirTomJones back on my telly again."
A source said: "Tom was making a point about grasping an opportunity and genuinely meant no offence."