The Voice: Boy George and Paloma Faith join BBC show as Tom Jones quits

Will.iam and Ricky Wilson will remain on coaching panel

Paloma Faith is joining The Voice as a new coach (Getty Images)

Boy George and Paloma Faith will be filling the red seats left by Tom Jones and Rita Ora on The Voice when the BBC talent show returns.

Will.i.am and Ricky Wilson will remain on the celebrity coaching panel.

Rita Ora, who replaced Kylie Minogue for series four, has been snapped up by ITV as an X Factor judge this autumn.

Paloma Faith, who was hotly contended to take up a red seat on The Voice, said: “I’m really excited about working with creative people.

“I have a long history of helping break artists as in my club night I booked Kate Nash, Adele, and The Noisettes before they hit the big time.”

Upbeat: Boy George (John Rahim/REX features)

Culture Club singer Boy George rose to fame in the Eighties, but his career took a downwards spiral in 2009 when he was sentenced to 15 months in jail for falsely imprisoning a male escort by handcuffing him to a wall.

He last released a studio album in 2013 entitled This Is What I Do.

Speaking about joining the show, he said: “If I can help someone to win I will be delighted. What a wonderful opportunity to share my experience and help someone move forward with their musical career.”

The Voice 2015 winner Stevie McCrorie (PA)

Emma Willis and Marvin Humes will return to host The Voice, which has been mooted by the Government as one of the BBC shows that could face the axe due to its similarity with The X Factor.

A Green Paper stated: “An element of popular programming is essential. However, concerns have been raised that the BBC behaves in an overly commercial way.”