Holly Willoughby & Reggie Yates to host The Voice

Holly Willoughby & Reggie Yates to host The Voice
Holly Willoughby & Reggie Yates to host The Voice (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Reggie Yates is to join Holly Willoughby as presenter of BBC One's hotly-tipped new talent contest The Voice, seen as a new rival to The X Factor. Holly emerged as a presenter of the show last week as it was announced she was stepping down from her role on ITV1's Dancing On Ice. The new show has already been launched in a number of countries with a US series proving a hit earlier this year. BBC One will launch its version, to be called The Voice UK, in the spring, with mentors - known as "coaches" - set to include Jessie J. Reggie is already well known as a Radio 1 presenter and has hosted Top Of The Pops as well as coverage of Glastonbury and Reading Festivals. Holly's role was officially confirmed today, but her position on ITV1's This Morning will be unaffected. She said: "I'm so excited to be hosting The Voice. When it launched in America I watched one of the shows and thought it was just a fantastic format, and when I heard it was coming to the UK I thought to myself how incredible it would be to be a part of it. "It's going to be one roller coaster of a ride and I can't wait to get started." Reggie said: "I'm so delighted to get this job and be part of such a credible music show." Contestants will take part in "blind" auditions so they are judged solely on their voice, rather than their looks or stage performance.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.