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EXCLUSIVE: Richard Marx, a friend of Sir Tom Jones, has said the decision to axe the music icon from The Voice UK coaching panel was ‘handled badly’ amidst the public backlash

Sir Tom Jones’ friend has said the backlash surrounding ITV axing him from The Voice UK is “pretty significant”. The music icon, 86, was sensationally dropped by the ITV talent show after 13 years as part of a major shake-up.

Bosses had hoped to offer Sir Tom a role on the show, but in a “different capacity”. Although he’s currently appearing on series 14, next year will be very different. Long-standing coach will.i.am will be joined by returning coach, Kelly Rowland, as well as newbies Cheryl Tweedy and rapper Aitch.

Sources have since said that Sir Tom has ruled out returning to the show next year. He previously said that while he didn’t want to leave the show, ITV had made the decision “a while ago.”

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Speaking to the Mirror, Sir Tom’s pal and The Voice Australia coach, Richard Marx, said: “The way that went down, and I don’t know the behind-the-scenes details, but I know Tom a little bit, and he’s such a class act, and I think however they handled it, they handled it badly, it seems.

“And the backlash, the public backlash, has been pretty significant.” Richard went on to add: “I haven’t seen him in a while, but I actually spent some time in the studio with him years ago, and I grew up idolising him. When I was a little kid, it was Tom and Elvis; they were my guys.

“Years later, his son, who manages him, reached out to me, and we went into the studio together, Tom and I, and nothing ever really came of what we did in the studio, but he and I hit it off and got to spend some time together. He’s just such a lovely guy. I absolutely love Tom.”

Richard went on to say that despite Sir Tom’s health struggles, his pal is “remarkable”. He said: “I just saw a clip on TikTok yesterday from a gig like a week ago, and he came out, and you could tell he was like, ‘Ugh, my hips hurt!’ or whatever, you know, like, but then he sits down, and his voice is the same! It’s unbelievable, he’s 86. Holy s*8t!

“That’s goals for me, man! I want to be that. Tony Bennett was able to do that, and I look at Tom; there are so few people whose voices don’t just ultimately leave them in some way, shape, or form. And I think it’s a testament to Tom, and Tony Bennett also, if you just never stop singing, you just got to go—you just got to stay—sing all the time, and that’s what they do..”

After a career spanning decades and 14 albums, Richard also disclosed that trying to pick a setlist for his recent shows at the London Palladium had been “tricky”. “Especially in America,” he laughed, adding: “But in such an incredibly wonderful way. Which is why sometimes, I don’t play all the singles. I’ve done a few gigs here, where I didn’t do anything but hits.

“But when I was putting that setlist together, I thought ‘Man, I am the luckiest guy in the world to be able to have a setlist like that.’ I know that first of all, I cater to the people who’ve supported me all these years, and I know that they want to hear the hits. I get it, because I’m the same way when I go see um when I go see a band play, if they don’t do most of the material that I know and love, I’m going to be a little bummed out.”

His shows, he says, are a journey for fans to kick back and relax, listening to their favourite hits live, while also being introduced to new material. He’s also a fan of Niall Horan, explaining: “I’ve never seen Niall, but I’m a fan of his. If you’re the kind of performer I am, who talks to the audience a lot, once you build a rapport with that particular audience, they’re in.

“It’s almost like you saying to your friends at a dinner party, ‘Hey, listen, can we pause the Sade station here for a few minutes, because I want to play you a couple of songs I’m really into?’ Of course, your friends are going to go, ‘Yeah, show me! What do you got?’ It’s kind of like the same thing. I tell everybody, ‘If you come to see me live, I’m very proud of the music that we play.”

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DONNA Air was all smiles as she enjoyed a night out with former Tottenham Hotspur vice-chairman and property tycoon multi-millionaire Paul Kemsley last month.

The former Byker Grove actress, 47, was recently spotted leaving the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles with the multi-millionaire Brit, 59.

Onlookers claimed the pair “seemed really cosy” while he was heard telling a fan not to interrupt as he was “on a f***ing date.”

After moving to the States last year to pursue new film and TV roles, Donna will no doubt by impressed by Paul’s impressive network of contacts and ability to open doors.

But The Sun can reveal that she may be in for a shock – as he is at the centre of one of Hollywood’s most toxic divorce battles ever.

Sources told how the property magnate’s split from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Dorit, who filed for divorce last April, has become “so brutal it makes the War of the Roses script look tame”.

And one warned: “I hope Donna knows what she’s getting into, because this divorce will be explosive. Dorit wants to destroy Paul and she will use every tool in her Gucci handbag to get what she wants.

“If I was Donna, I wouldn’t want to get caught up in it.”

Entrepreneur Paul – who is known as PK – and glamorous ex-wife Dorit have been locked in a poisonous battle since May 2024 when they decided to separate, and he moved out of their $6m mansion in Encino, California into a five star luxury hotel.

And the set of Real Housewives, which both have appeared on since 2016 as cast members, became the fighting ring in which the pair slugged it out, trading a series of vicious blows.

In perhaps the nastiest, in November 2024, Dorit branded her husband “a full-blown alcoholic” and told cameras he had “always” been a drinker.

She added: “Over the years, it’s gotten progressively worse, and little fights will turn into blow-ups. We would be in the gutter after a fight, screaming at one another. I don’t want that toxic energy around small children.”

Months after the episodes aired, in November, PK was pictured kissing Shana Wall outside Cipriani restaurant in Los Angeles and seemingly sounded the death knell for his nine-year marriage.

One day later, Dorit filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences and requested sole legal and physical custody of their two children, son Jagger, 12, and daughter Phoenix, nine. PK countered with a request for shared custody.

And the fight was to grow even nastier as time went on.

Just two months ago, Dorit claimed in court that her ex-husband was trying to force their kids into homelessness by refusing to maintain an informal agreement to pay the mortgage on their marital home in LA.

Court documents stated they were $6m behind on the payments – despite him earning “at least $2,000,000 a year”. It was also noted that he “has other income streams outside of the United States.”

PK then hit back that his ex-wife had blown $995,270 on “wardrobe related expenses” during a 14-month span between December 2024 and March 2026 – as the family faced the potential foreclosure of their home.

The filing included $69,000 in charges from Louis Vuitton, $69,000 from Chanel, $38,000 from Hermes, and $22,000 from Saint Honore that she racked up between October 30 last year and Jan 6.

The source continued: “Dorit’s shopping is out of control. Fame doesn’t suit some people and she became a bit of a diva after she joined the show. But it wasn’t that which caused her and Paul to break-up.

“The trouble started when they had a burglary, which she found very traumatic, and she was upset with him being away when it happened. She accused him of being absent when she needed him the most.”

In the terrifying ordeal, in 2021, three masked intruders broke to the couple’s home while she was sleeping and held her at gunpoint, threatening her life while her two young children were asleep in their own rooms.

She later recalled hearing them say: “Just kill her” as she prayed for her kids to stay asleep. The crooks ran off with over $1million in luxury handbags, watches, and jewelry.

The source continued: “She was badly traumatised, and they started drifting apart and being very mean to each other. She thought he was having affairs because he would often go missing, not answering his phone.

“He was spending a lot of time in London and she was thinking about hiring a private investigator, that’s for sure.

“Meanwhile for him, one of the worst blows came when she told the world he was an alcoholic after they had separated. That had an awful effect on him. To do that felt unforgivable.

“Now, she is demanding huge maintenance payments from PK, but he will argue that she earns more than him now and so she basically owes him. It’s definitely going to be explosive.”

Against such a poisonous backdrop, the source also warned that PK’s friendship with Donna, who has dated James Middleton and has daughter Freya with Damien Aspinall, will not go down well.

They went on: “Paul might not look like Robert Redford, but he is very generous – he showers women with gifts and fun nights. And he’s very charismatic and has a great sense of humour.

“He and Donna have been friends for ages and have become much closer of late.

“She always says she loves a man with a sense of humour and she finds Paul hilarious.

“He always says he put all his energy into turning Dorit into a TV star – he completely changed her style and the way she looked. If you look at the before and after pictures of her, there’s huge difference.

“To get Dorit the job on Housewives, he set up a dinner party with the show’s bosses, invited his most exciting friends and entrepreneurs, brought in a chef and spent thousands entertaining them all to land her the gig – and it worked.

“Paul saw the potential in her and he turned her into the star she is today.

“Over the years he has lost a lot of money and made a lot of money, but he’s always on the up. He always finds a way to get the deal done. He’s like a cat with nine lives – he always falls on his feet.

“But Dorit is out for revenge and his night out with Donna will only make her angrier and more bitter.

“Recently she has been saying: ‘I will show the world the real Paul Kemsley’ and she is certainly angry enough to really attack him. “This could be the most toxic divorce in Hollywood history.

“So far it’s making the War of the Roses script look tame.”

A spokesman for Donna last night said the couple were not dating and claimed Paul’s comment about a date was made “in jest”.