LeAnn Rimes ‘in talks’ to join The Voice UK

American country music sensation LeAnn Rimes is currently leading the race to become one of the new coaches on the show.

This news comes as the popular talent show undergoes a significant shake-up, with two of its famous red chairs now vacant following the departures of Olly Murs and Anne-Marie.

LeAnn, a celebrated double Grammy winner , recently hinted at this potential new venture in an Instagram post that mentioned a visit to Manchester, where The Voice UK is filmed.

A source shared: “LeAnn is meeting with ITV about possibly joining The Voice UK as a coach. It’s very early days but they think they could carve up a good deal.”

The source added to The Sun newspaper: “LeAnn is an incredible talent and her record of awards and record sales speak for themselves. ITV thinks she would make an incredible coach and LeAnn is excited to see if she can make it work with her schedule.”

If ITV succeeds in bringing LeAnn on board, she would join the panel alongside Sir Tom Jones and Will.i.am.

It was announced ahead of the last series that Olly would be leaving the show – a decision he made clear wasn’t his own.

In a candid confession, Olly admitted he was left “gutted” after getting a call from producers.

“It’s a bit of a shock, to be honest. I didn’t really expect that to come,” he said. “But I don’t want to sit here like other artists might, and shine and gloss this up and say, ‘It was my decision’. I don’t want to do that.”

He added: “Did I want to leave? No. Will I still watch the show? Of course, but it’ll be sore thinking that could have been me…”

Meanwhile news of Anne-Marie’s departure followed quickly after, amid rumours ITV were keen to ‘refresh’ the panel of coaches.

Olly and Anne-Marie were the most recent additions to the show, with Sir Tom and Will both original coaches from when the series first launched on the BBC.