‘Petrified’ Olly Murs reveals he needed therapy to manage panic attacks before joining The Voice

Olly Murs has opened up about how his time as a coach on The Voice UK impacted his mental health.

The pop star, who rose to fame on The X Factor in 2009, served as a mentor on The Voice from 2018 until 2023.

Olly, 40, who welcomed his first child, Madison, last year with wife Amelia Tank, was then axed from the ITV show, much to his surprise.

In the aftermath, fellow long-standing coach Sir Tom Jones admitted that his close pal was ‘really bothered’ by the decision, while Olly himself insisted his exit was not ‘amicable’.

Now, the Heart Skips A Beat hitmaker has told Auto Trader’s Show On The Road podcast that he was terrified to initially sign to The Voice at all after being hit by fix claims when he hosted The X Factor in 2015, famously announcing that Monica Michael was leaving the competition before the results were confirmed.

‘I felt like the worst news that could ever happen to me. I had a massive panic attack over it,’ he shared.

‘I know what I went through was nothing compared to what other people go through. But mentally at the time, I was freaked out.

‘I wondered, going back on TV again, was I going to make a mistake? Because that’s all I got when I did X Factor, I was told, you’re useless, you’re not good, you’re not a great presenter, you’re not this, you’re not that.

‘Don’t get me wrong, there were loads of positives too, but I just got loads of hate.’

Olly ‘wasn’t sure’ he could take on the challenge, which led him to therapy.

The Dear Darlin’ singer said sitting down to chat for ‘about two or three’ sessions helped him ‘so much’ as he then felt ready to ‘get back in the firing line’.

‘One of the things I learnt was how to cope and understand how I was feeling. She gave me these techniques on how to deal with that other voice in your head that’s like telling you you can’t do this, run away.’

On his first day sitting in the famous red chair, Olly was ‘petrified’.

To power through, he reminded himself of his strengths.

‘So I told myself you’re great at what you do. You’re really good on TV. You’ve got it. You’ve got this, Olly. You’ve got this,’ he shared.

‘And it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I loved it. I did it for seven years. And it was what I needed. It was brilliant.’

Following his exit from The Voice, Olly stated that he was ‘shocked’, telling The Sun in September last year: ‘I’m gutted. I got the call last week to say I won’t be back on the show, and it’s a bit of a shock, to be honest. I didn’t really expect that to come.’

Olly has since been replaced on the programme, with 2002 hitmaker Anne-Marie also axed around the same time.

Now sitting in their seats are LeAnn Rimes and the show’s first-ever duo, McFly’s Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones.

The series returned with a bang this month, with Sir Tom returning along with will.i.am.

Speaking ahead of its premiere, Sir Tom defended the line-up change when chatting to Metro.co.uk and other press.

‘Well, it’s interesting,’ he began. ‘Again, that’s an exciting part. If it was the same coaches all the time it would get boring for the viewers, I think.

‘So, it’s nice to work with others,’ the 84-year-old added.

The Voice continues Saturday on ITV1 and ITVX.

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