Olly Murs loving The Voice UK after his ‘tough’ time on X Factor

Olly Murs says he’s loving The Voice UK as he films blind auditions in Manchester.

Former X Factor finalist and host Olly is joining the rival singing series as a coach alongside Will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones and Jennifer Hudson.

Olly said on signing up: “I’m absolutely buzzing about being a coach on The Voice UK and can’t wait to sit in the big red chair alongside will, Jennifer and Tom. I’m excited to mentor new artists and without doubt, I’m in it to WIN!”

Speaking to the Sunday People last week from filming, Olly said: “People will be on Twitter and social media judging me.

“They’ll say good things and negative things like they hate the show. Well, why are you watching it then?

“But the most important thing is how I feel in my heart. I’m having a great time with these guys. I’m loving The Voice.”

Singer Olly joins The Voice having previously competed as a contestant and later hosted rival singing show The X Factor.

Reflecting on his one-year stint as a presenter of the Simon Cowell show, Olly said it was an “intense” and “crazy” time but its made him stronger.

He explained: “I think I’ve gone through worse now. On X Factor two years ago all the stuff that happened was intense.

“There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders hosting the biggest show at the time. We’ve all gone through tough times, you have to use those times and try to make them as positive as you can and move on.

“I’ve learnt from those times I felt down and depressed. I think positive, you can’t dwell on the past.”

Meanwhile, Olly insisted The X Factor team had ­congratulated him on the new job, even if Simon himself hadn’t been in touch.

Olly said: “It was really nice that when it was announced that I was doing The Voice I had loads of texts from loads of people, I’m not going to name them.

“I saw on my Instagram that Niall – Horan from One Direction – ­congratulated me and people from X Factor have. So ­everyone’s cool. It’s been lovely. I’ve had lots of fun, ­positive messages.”

The Voice UK will return to TV in January on ITV.