Ricky Wilson has quit ‘The Voice’.
While the Kaiser Chiefs frontman will star in the upcoming fifth season on the BBC, he has decided to bow out when it moves to ITV for series six.
He said: "This is my last one anyway. Yeah. I was going to bow out gracefully. I don’t think ITV would want me. They would want to have a totally new show."
The BBC lost the show to its rival after refusing to get into a bidding war but Ricky thinks the BBC needs to hold on to its light entertainment programmes.
He explained to The Sun: "I think the argument the BBC shouldn’t be competing with ITV is nonsense. You should always compete. It’s the only way things get better.
"If you’re talking about cultural significance, light entertainment is right up there. It’s a huge part of people’s lives. It’s what the great British public want on their Saturday night. They don’t want to be force-fed something educational.
"There’s something so important about entertainment. It is equal to education."
Speaking about losing ‘The Voice’, Mark Linsey, Acting Director of BBC Television said: "The BBC is incredibly proud of ‘The Voice’ but the fifth series which starts in January will be our last. We always said we wouldn’t get into a bidding war or pay inflated prices to keep the show, and it’s a testament to how the BBC has built the programme up – and established it into a mainstay of the Saturday night schedule – that another broadcaster has poached it."
Ricky Wilson to quit The Voice
