‘The Voice’ UK final: Will.i.am ‘so sad’ after Leah McFall loses to Andrea Begley

There are a number of people out there depressed over Leah McFall’s loss on “The Voice” UK Saturday night to Andrea Begley, but perhaps none are feeling more emotional than her own mentor in will.i.am. The “Scream and Shout” artist had been a major supporter of her talent all season long, and even in the closing seconds of the voting period, it felt as though she was going to be the person to secure the victory.

Did this happen? Not exactly. Instead, voters chose to go with someone who was a bit more traditional in Northern Ireland’s Andrea Begley of Team Danny O’Donoughue, who has a great voice, but also faced some controversy about whether or not her inspirational story was a reason behind the support just as much as the performances. Regardless, a win is a win, and now she has to hope for some success moving forward to validate the show somewhat.

So how did will.i.am deal with the loss of his artist? In a post on Twitter, he stood behind his belief that Leah should have been declared the winner of the competition:

“You should feel the audiences vibration in the room tonigh after the publics vote…its #unexplainable…so sad…#perplexed … Andrea is amazing…#dontGETmeWRONG…but we know who has the incredible #voice”

Most of the other coaches were more diplomatic, wishing success to Andrea. Even Jessie J, who said following Matt Henry’s elimination that Leah should emerge from the competition victorious.

So will all of these coaches be back next year? That is the mystery of the moment. Will is constantly considered for other singing competitions, which makes sense considering how brilliant he is here; meanwhile, Jessie has a busy year ahead with some new music, and may opt to leave to focus on that side of her career.

If you want to take a look back at everything that transpired on the final, you can do so over here.

Photo: BBC One