The Voice UK is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The ninth series began airing on 4 January 2020, presented by Emma Willis on ITV. will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones and Olly Murs returned for their ninth, eighth and third series, respectively, as coaches. Jennifer Hudson did not return as a coach for this series and was replaced by singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor. A promotional trailer was released on 6 December 2019.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the semi-final and final of the competition, originally meant to air on 28 March and 4 April, were postponed until November 2020.
In September 2020, ITV revealed that the series would continue in October 2020. However, Trainor digitally coached from the United States because of travel restrictions due to her pregnancy and the ongoing pandemic.
On 14 November 2020, Blessing Chitapa was announced the winner of the series, making her the first winner to be born outside of the UK as Chitapa was born in Zimbabwe. In addition, she became the youngest winner in the show's history based on the year won and the contestant's birth year, surpassing Molly Hocking the year before. Hocking was old when she won on 6 April 2019, and Chitapa was when she won on 14 November 2020, 226 days older than Holly. This also marks the second consecutive, as well as the final win of Olly Murs.
Two contestants of the season would end up representing their countries in the Eurovision Song Contest: Brooke Scullion, who placed third, represented with the song "That's Rich", placing fifteenth in the second semi-final, while Johannes Pietsch, who was eliminated in the knockouts, with the song "Wasted Love" under his stage name JJ, becoming the first ever The Voice UK participant to win the contest.
Coaches
On 26 September 2019, it was confirmed that will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones and Olly Murs would return to the show as coaches for their ninth, eighth and third series, respectively. They are joined by new coach Meghan Trainor, an American Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, who replaces former coach Jennifer Hudson. Hudson opted not to return for her fourth series due to filming commitments in the US, which is Cats and Respect. Trainor expressed her excitement at joining the coaching team and commented, "It's a dream come true and I can't wait to sit in the chair with my own button and listen to some incredible new talent!" Alongside the coaches, the return of presenter Emma Willis was announced; she was excited by Trainor's casting.
Trainor later spoke about joining the coaching panel, admitting that she found it "intimidating" and felt "insecure" about what the contestants would think about her, believing she was not as well established in comparison to the rest of the panel. She added that she was nervous about replacing Hudson and asked her for advice on how to approach the show. will.i.am thought it was hard for Trainor to settle into the position because Hudson was well loved on the show, but believed that Trainor would be liked by the audience too. Murs agreed and described Trainor as "a very powerful woman, she's got this great energy about her, she's fun."
Production Filming for this series commenced on 14 October 2019 at Dock 10 studios with the taping of the blind auditions.
A promotional trailer for the series was released on 6 December 2019, featuring the coaching panel. The series premiered on ITV on 4 January 2020 in the 20:30 timeslot.
On 18 March, it was announced by ITV that the live semi-final which was scheduled for Saturday 28 March, would be postponed until later in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The semi-final eventually was aired on 7 November, and the final on 14 November.
Teams Colour key: Winner Runner-up Third place Eliminated in the Semi-Final Eliminated in the Knockouts Artist was stolen by another coach at the Battles Eliminated in the Battles
CoachTop 40 Artistswill.i.am Gevanni Hutton Lucy Calcines Doug Sure Johannes Pietsch Baby Sol Claudillea Holloway So DivaShauna ByrneAlia LaraEvergreenZindzi ThomasMeghan Trainor Brooke ScullionTrinity-Leigh CooperOli RossBeryl McCormackBlaize ChinaDarci Wilders Jordan Phillips Claudillea HollowayKatie & AoifeHolly ScallyDean John-WilsonTom Jones Jonny BrooksLois MoodieShezArElly O'KeeffeZionSo DivaLara GeorgeVivienne IseborShaun SamoniniSean ConnollyLara AnsteadOlly Murs Blessing ChitapaJordan PhillipsCameo WilliamsCat CavelliAlan ChanTy Lewis Beryl McCormackBelle NoirBrian CorbettMillie BowellBleu Woodward
Blind auditions Colour key Coach hit his/her "I WANT YOU" button Artist defaulted to this coach's team Artist elected to join this coach's team Artist eliminated with no coach pressing his or her "I WANT YOU" button Artist Received an "All Turn"
Episode 1 (4 January) ArtistOrderAgeSongCoaches and artists choiceswill.i.amMeghanTomOlly Brooke Scullion 1 20 "Bruises" Adam Howarth 2 27 "Losing Man" (original song) — — — — So Diva 3 Various "Don't Walk Away" — — Francisco Iannuzzi 4 30 "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" — — — — Lara George 5 32 "Don't Be So Hard on Yourself" — Trinity-Leigh Cooper 6 16 "Stone Cold" — — Cameo Williams 7 18 "Heart of Glass" — — ShezAr 8 31 "A Deeper Love"
Episode 2 (11 January) ArtistOrderAgeSongCoaches and artists choiceswill.i.amMeghanTomOlly Blaize China 1 21 "Instruction" Ty Lewis 2 18 "When the Party's Over" — — Babalola Ehidiamen 325 "A Change Is Gonna Come" — — — — Baby Sol 4 36 "Lullaby Of Birdland" — Lara Anstead 5 26 "Say You Love Me" — — — Jay Harvey 638 "Woman Trouble" — — — — Katie & Aoife 7 16 "Chiquitita" — — — Zion 8 26 "Glory" — — —
Episode 3 (18 January) ArtistOrderAgeSongCoaches and artists choiceswill.i.amMeghanTomOlly Alan Chan 1 40 "You Know My Name" — — — Oli Ross 2 21 "Sail" — AK 3 24 "Eye of the Tiger" — — — — Doug Sure 4 31 "Feels Like Summer" — Belle Noir 5 Various "Feel It Still" — — Jennifer Jamieson 6 26 "Wish You Well" — — — — Sean Connolly 7 30 "Suddenly" — — — Gevanni Hutton 8 17 "Everybody's Free" — — —
Episode 4 (25 January) ArtistOrderAgeSongCoaches and artists choiceswill.i.amMeghanTomOlly Jordan Phillips 1 20 "Found What I've Been Looking For" — — — Cat Cavelli 2 29 "I Put a Spell on You" — — Grant Tuffs 3 29 "Sucker" — — — — Brian Corbett 4 29 "Give Me Love" — — — Elly O'Keeffe 5 31 "River" — Natalie Good 6 24 "Shout Out To My Ex" — — — — Johannes Pietsch 7 18 "The Sound of Music" — — — Lois Moodie 8 21 "I Was Here" —
Episode 5 (1 February) ArtistOrderAgeSongCoaches and artists choiceswill.i.amMeghanTomOlly Darci Wilders 1 18 "Can't Help Falling in Love" — — — Lucy Calcines 2 21 "Mi Gente" Priscilla Cameron 3 31 "Juice" — — — — Zindzi Thomas 4 31 "War Cry" — — — Julius Cowdrey 5 26 "Take Me Home" (original song) — — — — Blessing Chitapa 6 17 "I'd Rather Go Blind" — — — Holly Scally 7 16 "Lay Me Down" — — Jonny Brooks 8 28 "Sweet Thing" — —
Episode 6 (8 February) ArtistOrderAgeSongCoaches and artists choiceswill.i.amMeghanTomOlly Bleu Woodward 1 32 "You Shook Me All Night Long" — — — Mollie Scott 2 21 "Work It Out" — — — — Vivienne Isebor 3 26 "The Weekend" — — — Alfie Osborne 4 19 "On the Loose" — — — — Sally Barrett 5 44 "What You're Made Of" — — — — Dean John-Wilson 6 30 "Always Remember Us This Way" — — Andre Sanchez 7 N/A "When I Was Your Man" — — — — Rozzandi 8 N/A "Señorita" — — — — Alia Lara 9 19 "How Do You Sleep?" — — — Beryl McCormack 10 22 "Turning Tables"
Episode 7 (15 February) ArtistOrderAgeSongCoaches and artists choiceswill.i.amMeghanTomOlly Jamie Deary 1 32 "Leave a Light On" — — — — Shaun Samonini 2 33 "In Case You Didn't Know" — Shauna Byrne 3 16 "If I Can't Have You" — rowspan=7 — Martina Mennell 4 32 "That's Life" — — — Alex Buckley 5 23 "Something" — — — Evergreen 6 18–19 "Big Yellow Taxi" — — Claudillea Holloway 7 24 "Queen of the Night aria" rowspan=3 Chris Beynon 8 22 "Stuck on You" rowspan=2 — Millie Bowell 9 23 "Titanium"
Battle rounds
Colour key Coach hit his/her "I WANT YOU" button Artist won the Battle and advanced to the Knockouts Artist lost the Battle but was stolen by another coach and advances to the Knockouts Artist lost the Battle and was eliminated
Episode 1 (22 February)
Order Coach Artists Song Coaches' and artists choices will.i.am Meghan Tom Olly 1 Olly Murs Alan Chan Bleu Woodward "If I Could Turn Back Time" — — — 2 will.i.am Doug Sure Zindzi Thomas "One" — — — 3 Sir Tom Jones Jonny Brooks Lara Anstead "Us" — — — 4 Meghan Trainor Blaize China Claudillea Holloway "The Greatest" — — 5 Oli Ross Dean John-Wilson "Take Me to Church" rowspan=3 — — 6 will.i.am Johannes Pietsch Evergreen "Songbird" — — — 7 Olly Murs Blessing Chitapa Beryl McCormack "Flying Without Wings" —
Episode 2 (29 February)
Order Coach Artists Song Coaches' and artists choices will.i.am Meghan Tom Olly 1 Meghan Trainor Brooke Scullion Jordan Phillips "Water Under the Bridge" rowspan=7 rowspan=7 — 2 Sir Tom Jones Lois Moodie Sean Connolly "Ordinary People" rowspan=6 3 Meghan Trainor Trinity-Leigh Cooper Holly Scally "Keep Holding On" — 4 will.i.am Lucy Calcines Alia Lara "Bounce Back" — 5 Sir Tom Jones Elly O'Keeffe Shaun Samonini "I Lived" 6 Olly Murs Ty Lewis Millie Bowell "If the World Was Ending" — 7 Sir Tom Jones Zion Vivienne Isebor "My Love Is Your Love"
Episode 3 (7 March)
Order Coach Artists Song Coaches' and artists choices will.i.amMeghanTomOlly 1 will.i.am Baby Sol So Diva "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" rowspan=7 rowspan=7 rowspan=7 2 Meghan Trainor Darci Wilders Katie & Aoife "I Want It That Way" rowspan=6 3 Sir Tom Jones ShezAr Lara George "Young Hearts Run Free" 4 Olly Murs Cameo Williams Brian Corbett "Eternal Flame" 5 Cat Cavelli Belle Noir "Dance Monkey" 6 will.i.am Gevanni Hutton Shauna Byrne "Imagine"
Knockouts
Episode 1 (14 March) Order Coach Artist Song Result 1 Sir Tom Jones So Diva "End of Time" Eliminated 2 Jonny Brooks "Don't Let Me Down" Advanced 3 Zion "Pray" Eliminated 1 Olly Murs Cat Cavelli "Careless Whisper" 2 Jordan Phillips "Rapture" Advanced 3 Cameo Williams "Wicked Game" Eliminated 1 will.i.am Gevanni Hutton "People Help the People" Advanced 2 Claudillea Holloway "Paint It Black" Eliminated 3 Baby Sol "Blackbird" 1 Meghan Trainor Blaize China "Light It Up" 2 Darci Wilders "Angel" 3 Trinity-Leigh Cooper "You Say" Advanced
Episode 2 (21 March) Order Coach Artist Song Result 1 Sir Tom Jones ShezAr "With a Little Help from My Friends" Eliminated 2 Elly O'Keeffe "Halo" 3 Lois Moodie "Battlefield" Advanced 1 Meghan Trainor Brooke Scullion "Stay" 2 Beryl McCormack "Because You Loved Me" Eliminated 3 Oli Ross "Hurt" 1 Olly Murs Alan Chan "Crazy Horses" 2 Ty Lewis "I'm So Tired..." 3 Blessing Chitapa "We Won't Move" Advanced 1 will.i.am Lucy Calcines "Attention" 2 Johannes Pietsch "The Winner Takes It All" Eliminated 3 Doug Sure "Don't Watch Me Cry" Saved by Lifeline vote
Live shows
Results summary Team's colour key Team Will Team Meghan Team Tom Team Olly
Result's colour key Artist received the most public votes Artist received the fewest votes and was eliminated
+ Weekly results per artist Contestant Week 1 Week 2 Round 1 Round 2 Blessing Chitapa Safe Safe Winner Jonny Brooks Safe Safe Runner-up Brooke Scullion Safe Eliminated Eliminated(Week 2) Gevanni Hutton Safe Eliminated Doug Sure Eliminated Eliminated(Week 1) Jordan Phillips Eliminated Lois Moodie Eliminated Lucy Calcines Eliminated Trinity-Leigh Cooper Eliminated
Week 1: Semi-final (7 November) Musical guest: Molly Hocking ("After the Night Before")