Sir Tom Jones' pal Richard Marx says The Voice axing was 'bad' amid 'significant backlash'

The music icon, 86, was sensationally dropped by the ITV talent show after 13 years as part of a major shake-up. 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. "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?'