Olly Murs has praised ‘The Voice’ as an "incredible show", despite starting out on rival show ‘The X Factor’.
The 33-year-old singer is set to take a seat on the judging panel when the new series of the ITV singing competition airs this Saturday (06.01.18), and although Olly began his career on rival show ‘The X Factor’ in 2009, he doesn’t feel as though he’s being disloyal by switching shows.
Olly – who also previously hosted one series of ‘The X Factor’ alongside Caroline Flack in 2015 – said: "You make your own decisions in life. Ever since I left ‘The X Factor’ I’ve always made my own decisions, as much as Simon – and other people – have been there to help me throughout me career, when ‘The Voice’ came calling it was just, ‘Yeah, I wanna do this,’ because I just think it’s an incredible show."
But the ‘Troublemaker’ singer thinks his decision to join ‘The Voice’ team might have caused a rift between himself and ‘X Factor’ show runner Simon Cowell, as the entertainment mogul hasn’t contacted him in a while.
He added: "I haven’t heard from Simon [recently]. Like I’ve said before Simon has my number, he knows how to contact me. It would be nice if he gave me a shout, but he won’t. I saw Simon recently at the ITV Gala, and he was like, ‘Ollie, darling! How are you?’ but you know that’s Simon. And you know, he’s going to watch the show – and he ain’t going to be happy!"
The ‘Dance With Me Tonight’ hitmaker also claims Simon hasn’t given him any warm wishes for his judging debut.
When asked at the launch for the programme if he had sought Simon’s approval before appearing on the show, and if Simon had wished him well, Olly said: "I’m just going to say no, and no."
Olly Murs praises The Voice
