‘The Voice’ UK hires Boy George, Paloma Faith, Ricky Wilson, will.i.am to be season 5 coaches

“The Voice” UK has officially set in stone its panel for the upcoming fifth season, and let’s just say that this was is a pretty random assembling of talent.

It was clear for some time that we were not going to be seeing Rita Ora on the show anymore, given that she jumped ship over to ITV and “The X Factor” earlier this year. However, we are a little more stunned to see Sir Tom Jones no longer taking part. While he was not the funniest coach in the world and sometimes had pretty boring feedback, his stories and his history in the music industry gave the panel gravitas.

Now, joining returning coaches will.i.am and Ricky Wilson are Paloma Faith and Boy George. Both are reasonably big names, but we’re not going to say that either has the international appeal of Rita or Sir Tom. We are still excited to see what Boy George brings to the table here, mostly because he is a very big personality and someone who will certainly sneak his mind. Also, think about what he and Will could bring to the show in terms of out-there fashion!

The new season of “The Voice” will film most of its pre-recorded rounds this fall, and it will premiere early next year on BBC One. From there, the live shows will take place at some point more than likely in March. The series has faced a little bit of controversy this year over its budget and whether or not it should be on a publicly-funded network … but we’re not British and nor do we have an understanding of its politics. Us wading into that debate would probably be a bad decision on our part.

For now, let us know in the comments what you think about this panel! Also, sign up here to get some further TV news on everything we cover, sent right to you courtesy of our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: BBC.)