The new series of The Voice UK kicked off on ITV on Saturday night with Olly Murs noticeably absent from the coaching line-up

Angry fans of The Voice have demanded that producers bring back Olly Murs, after being far from impressed by his ‘replacements’ as the new series kicked off on Saturday night.

Having finished second on The X Factor back in 2009 and then landed number 1 hits with the likes of Dance With Me Tonight, Heart Skips A Beat and Troublemaker, Olly joined the coaching team of the ITV show in 2019 and ended up having back to back wins in his first two years in the chairs, thanks to his contestants Molly and Blessing both emerging victorious.

The Voice UK is filmed months in advance and Olly actually revealed before the series had even started last year that he’d been axed by bosses, in a move he wasn’t expecting or particularly happy about. Speaking out about being ‘blindsided’ by the choice not to bring him back for the next series, Olly said: “I got the call to say I won’t be back on the show, and it’s a bit of a shock, to be honest,” he said. “I didn’t expect that. They’ll find someone great, I’m sure. But am I going to miss it? Yeah. Did I want to leave? No.”

Olly’s very public comments meant that viewers who watched The Voice 2023 knew he’d been given his marching orders, as they tuned into watch him every week and, ahead of the final, complaints started to flood in about him being ditched. And critics were active once again as the new run began this weekend, bringing debuts for Danny Jones and Tom Fletcher, the replacements for Olly and LeAnn Rimes, who has come in for Anne-Marie, who was also let go by producers.

It didn’t take long for comments to come in on X in support of Olly, with one fan writing: “sorry but I much preferred Olly Murs as a judge rather than the two from #McFly” as another, in firm agreement, reacted: “the show is missing @ollymurs for sure ! But bland without him #bringbackollymurs”