‘The Voice UK’ on ITV: Sir Tom Jones returning; Gavin Rossdale, Jennifer Hudson sign up

For the first time “The Voice UK” is going to be airing on ITV in the new year, and based on the latest announcement, we’re going to have a fairly interesting panel of coaches in the process!

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that former coach Sir Tom Jones will be making his grand return to the series after a brief absence in the new year. He’s stepping in after Boy George previously held his spot. (You will be able to see George on the upcoming season of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” so there’s that.) Will.i.am, the only member of the panel to have appeared on every season, is also going to be back.

As for who is joining the two of them, we’ve got Oscar-winner / former “American Idol” star Jennifer Hudson first, who said the following in a statement:

“The U.K. has always been so supportive of me since the beginning of my career, so I’m really looking forward to sharing my point of view with the contestants.”

In addition, we’ve also got Bush singer and former adviser for the US version Gavin Rossdale, who added the following:

“I’m so thrilled to be joining The Voice UK. I’ve always been extremely proud to fly the flag for British rock music, and I can’t wait to join this incredible panel and help discover some new talent.”

We are interested to see what ITV does with the show after it had so many years at the BBC. For now, the thing that mostly strikes us is this: As of right now, Great Britain has more singing competitions on the air than the United States, even though Britain has slightly more than a quarter of its population. That talent pool’s gotta be in some danger by now!

What do you think about the new coaching lineup? Share your thoughts / reactions in the comments, and click here to get some other TV news on just about everything we cover at CarterMatt via our official newsletter. (Photo: ITV.)