Sir Tom Jones has a sneaky way of putting The Voice judges off so he can steal the best singers.
The music veteran is gearing up for the new series of the ITV show, where he sits alongside fellow judges Anne-Marie, Olly Murs and will.i.am. He has had a lot of success on the show, and has managed to take home the top prize too.
The show is set to return this weekend, with the four judges out to bag the best of the talented auditionees. But now his secret to getting the best singer has been rumbled, as he revealed just how he manages to put the others off.
Host Emma Willis told The Mirror and other press: "All of them are naughty! They're all naughty in their own way - but in the best possible ways. In pairs, they're quite naughty as well - like Anne-Marie and Will are always up to no good, as are Olly and Tom."
Olly then chimed in to add at the ITV Autumn Entertainment launch: "Emma's the worst," as Tom admitted: "I'm always trying to make Olly laugh because I know a lot of limericks. Especially just before we go on, I think I'll throw one in to throw him off.
"I remember what the jokes are because I've been saying them for a long time. And then Olly says, how do you remember that? And I ask him if it's a good one, but he says I'll never be able to repeat it because I won't remember it."
Hinting they weren't limericks for family viewing, Olly joked: "Yeah or because I'm microphoned up."
"It's working, I'm throwing him off," Tom joked, before adding: "But we have a lot of fun, truthfully and honestly."
Discussing the new series, Tom revealed his excitement at getting to pitch to someone he really wants on his team.
"The singers that have come on, there's some very exciting singers and when you turn and pitch for them and you want that person and they say yes, so you think thank god I must have pitched right because this person I really for chose me," he said.
"I can help this person, I know I can, so I hope this person doesn't go with someone else who is maybe the essence of what this singer is all about. But there are other singers where I don't feel like that, like Anne-Marie can hear things in modern voices that maybe I would overlook. It's the same thing; when you've got young ears listening to what's going today, it's different. I still think a voice is a voice and it will come through; a strong vocal or an interesting sounding voice, like Adele."
*The Voice returns to ITV at 8pm on Saturday September 3.
