The Voice UK winners: where are they now?
The Voice is back on our screens, with judges Jennifer Hudson, Tom Jones, Gavin Rossdale and will.i.am meeting a new round of singers hoping to convince the panel to turn their chairs and take them through to the competition. Past winners have floored the judges and public with their impressive vocals, but what have they been up to since competing in the show? From Leanne Mitchell to Kevin Simm, we find out what they're up to now…
Leanne Mitchell
Mentored by Tom Jones, Leanne was crowned the winner of the very first series of The Voice in 2012. After the show she released her debut single, a cover of Whitney Houston's Run to You. A year later she debuted her eponymous album, but unfortunately it did not have much success in making it into the charts. Leanne was also involved in a feud with judge Danny O'Donoghue after he criticised her work ethic. She hit back in a lengthy Twitter post, saying that she didn't "think anyone was particularly on my side from the start", and urged her fans not to judge her on "what has been said or written".
Nowadays, Leanne is a proud mum to her and husband Rob's son Leo and continues to perform in venues across the UK.
Andrea Begley
Mentored by The Script's Danny O'Donoghue, Andrea's win wasn't without controversy in 2013 after will.i,am walked off stage when she was announced as the champion. The Black Eyed Peas singer faced backlash after taking to Twitter to voice his disappointment that his own act had not triumphed. "You should feel the audience’s vibration in the room tonight after the public’s vote... its unexplainable... so sad... perplexed," he wrote. "Andrea is amazing... don’t get me wrong... but we know who has the incredible voice."
That didn't stop Andrea from releasing her debut album The Message which hit Number 7 in the charts. Since then, Andrea has continued to perform and even been on tour. Partially-sighted as a result of Glaucoma, Andrea is also an ambassador for the Royal National Institute of Blind People in Northern Ireland.
Jermain Jackman
With will.i.am as a mentor, Jermain was hotly tipped to be the next big thing when he took home the first place trophy in 2014. However, his cover of And I Am Telling You failed to reach the top ten spots in the charts.
Although Jermain continued to perform, he eventually revealed that he was quitting the music industry in order to continue his education and get a degree in politics. "I’ve stepped back from music for now. I saw some things I didn’t like and I was losing the love for music," he told TellyMix at the time. "Maybe I’ll come back when I’m 23 and I’ve got my degree in politics."
Stevie McCrorie
Former firefighter Stevie was mentored by The Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson in 2015, when he was voted as the winner. His debut single Lost Stars took the sixth spot in the charts, and he embarked on a series of TV appearances and performances.
However in recent years Stevie admitted that his career in music was making it difficult to properly provide for his wife and their daughter Bibi, and eventually decided to return to his job as a firefighter. He had been considering the change for a while, having previously told ITV Scotland: "If I go back, it's not because I have given up, I am just looking after my family. I would rather just work hard and work at my career for my family – and work at music as well alongside for my fans."
Kevin Simm
Fans of Liberty X were delighted when Kevin first auditioned for The Voice with his impressive rendition of Sia's hit Chandelier. Initially mentored by Paloma Faith, he was stolen by Ricky Wilson after almost being eliminated from the competition and went on to win.
The father-of-two is still performing, and recently released his latest album Recover. He also reunited with his fellow Liberty X bandmembers in 2016 to perform at Birmingham Gay Pride, singing some of their biggest hits from Got to Have Your Love and Just A Little.
