The Voice is in its 12th season, and it’s been a fixture on our screens in the UK since 2012. It’s perhaps fair to say that the contestants haven’t had the impact of The X Factor‘s biggest names, but some previous winners have gone on to some exciting things since winning the show.
Here, we’ll take a look at where the winners are now.
Leanne Mitchell (series one)
The first winner of The Voice UK, Leanne released her debut single the day after winning, on June 3, 2012. Her debut album wasn’t a success, however, and in 2014 she was dropped from her record label.
She now has a son, Leo, and has kept her job as a holiday camp singer.
The Voice winners: Andrea Begley (series two)
Singer-songwriter Andrea is the niece of Irish country singer Philomena Bagley, and her winning single peaked at number 30 on the UK chart. Her debut album then reached number seven.
Andrea has since moved back to Ireland and has embarked on a tour with her aunt. She also released her second album in 2019.
Jermain Jackman (series three)
Jermain became the first man to win the contest in 2014 and released his eponymous debut album the following year. However, he’s since become better known for his political career and activism.
He’s been involved in politics around North and East London, near his hometown of Hackney, and said that former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn inspired him to get involved in politics when he saw him in a school talent show as a child. In 2020, he stood to secure a seat on Labour’s National Executive Committee but narrowly missed out.
The Voice winners: Stevie McCrorie (series four)
A firefighter when he entered The Voice in 2015, Stevie won the show and his winner’s single got to number six in the charts – and topped the charts in his native Scotland.
In 2016, he went back to his career as a firefighter and parted ways with his record label and PR company. However, he’s been releasing EPs on his own independent label. He has two daughters, Bibi and Sunny, with his wife.
Kevin Simm (series five)
Kevin was in the charts two decades ago as one-fifth of pop band Liberty X, who themselves were formed through the talent show Popstars, comprising the five losing finalists.
But he won The Voice in 2016, signing with Universal and getting his winner’s single to number 24. Then, in September 2018, it was revealed that he had joined Wet Wet Wet, replacing original vocalist Marti Pellow. They released their first album with Kevin in 2021 but he still tours singing Marti’s greatest hits.
Mo Adeniran (series six)
Mo, who was a hotel worker at the time of his audition, won the show in 2017. He released his debut album Evolve the following March, and it reached number 36 in the chart. Following this, he was released from his contract with Polydor Records.
Ruti Olajugbagbe (series seven)
Ruti won the seventh season in 2018, and her winner’s single, a cover of The Cranberries’ Dreams, topped the UK iTunes Store chart. On the main UK chart, it got to number 14.
She released her debut EP in April 2019, but after this was dropped from Polydor. In September 2021, she shared that she’d signed a publishing deal with Sony Publishing, and two months later said that she’d signed a record deal with PMR Records, part of Universal.
Ruti was one of Adele‘s support artists for her huge outdoor Hyde Park gigs last year, too.
Molly Hocking (series eight)
Molly won The Voice in 2019 and got to number 73 on the charts with her winner’s single.
She’s no longer with Polydor but did support Olly Murs, her mentor on the show, on tour in summer 2021. And, she’s been releasing music independently.
The Voice winners: Blessing Annatoria (series nine)
Zimbabwe-born Blessing reached number 50 on the chart with her cover of the Robbie Williams classic Angel in 2020, and signed a contract with Island Records.
In April 2021, she released her debut album, but she parted ways with her label later that year. However, she released a new single, Stay With Me, in 2022.
Craig Eddie (series 10)
Craig won The Voice in 2021, but before auditioning worked in a call centre, an ASDA warehouse, and Greggs. He won the show with his own composition, Come Waste My Time.
He parted ways with his record label, but released a new single, Elastic Heart, this June.
The Voice winners: Anthonia Edwards (series 11)
Anthonia is The Voice’s most recent winner and released a cover of Justin Bieber’s Anyone as her winner’s single.
She’s been quite quiet since winning but did support a bona fide music legend when she opened for Billy Ocean at the Brighton Centre this March.
The Voice is on ITV1 tonight (November 25) at 8pm.
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