ITV have announced Sir Tom Jones will return to The Voice prompting an excitable reaction from fellow coach will.i.am.

The Black Eyed Peas star, who has appeared in every series of the show, admitted he had missed his Welsh co-star and welcomed his move to ITV for the series, set to air in 2017.

Reacting to the news of Sir Tom’s return, will.i.am said: “It’s the freaking best. I’ve missed him a lot.”

will.i.am
(Ian West/PA)

The 76-year-old singer previously acted as a coach for the first four series, winning the first in 2012 with his act Leanne Mitchell.

He left before the fifth series in 2016 and criticised the BBC as having “sub-standard behaviour” for axing him from the show with just a 24-hour warning.