SIR TOM TAKES SHINE TO RIVAL Voice judge confesses

SIR Tom Jones has risked angering The Voice chiefs by saying he is a big fan of rival Let It Shine.

The two talent shows go head-to-head on Saturday nights in a brutal ratings battle.

But Tom has admitted he doesn’t mind that The Voice is pulling in lower figures.

The ITV show is hunting for a chart star, while on the BBC’s Let It Shine Gary Barlow is casting for a Take That musical.

Tom told the Daily Star Sunday: “I’ve seen Let It Shine and I thought it was good. Gary is a friend of mine.”

The programmes overlap for 20 minutes every week.

Ratings have been close but Let It Shine has had the edge.

But Tom, speaking at the National TV Awards, insisted it doesn’t matter that The Voice is losing out.

“It’s nice to have something strong on the other channel,” he said.

“It’s a good thing. I don’t mind if Let It Shine is doing well so long as people are watching us.

“It doesn’t matter if they get more viewers so long as people are watching.

“If they ratings aren’t good then you have to wonder what’s happening because it means something is wrong.

“But the ratings are there for The Voice as well (as Let It Shine).” When The Voice returned to TV earlier this month it pulled in 6.4million viewers. That has now dropped to 5.7m. Let It Shine’s Martin Kemp says the BBC show is pulling in more fans because there is better chemistry between the judges. The Spandau Ballet singer sits alongside Dannii Minogue and Gary Barlow. He said: “It’s working with Gary. “He’s a really lovely guy. And that’s what makes working on the show so nice. “When you do any show you’re working with people who have been put together by different producers. They don’t know if there’s going to be chemistry. “But we’re lucky enough that we’ve sat down and there is chemistry and that’s a bonus.” Critics have claimed Let It Shine isn’t exciting enough because the judges are too nice to the contestants. But Martin said: “I think the show is what you make of it. “It’s a nice, warm Saturday night show that’s really exciting.” brilliant