Danny O'Donoghue to leave The Voice

16 July 2013 Last updated at 12:01 GMT O'Donoghue released his first album with his band The Script in August 2008 Singer Danny O'Donoghue will not return as a judge on BBC One's talent show The Voice, he has announced.

The Irish front man, who won the competition this year with partially-sighted singer Andrea Begley, follows Jessie J's recent departure.

"I gave it my heart and soul and couldn't be more proud of the show," he said in a statement.

It has not been confirmed whether Sir Tom Jones and Will.i.am will stay on as the remaining judges.

Previously, all four coaches had said they would only reprise their roles if if they could continue doing it together.

BBC controller Mark Linsey said O'Donoghue was "an absolute star" but understands he has to focus on his music career.

"The Voice coaches are all current music stars with recording and touring careers to manage alongside the show and we know this can be difficult to juggle," he added.

The Script's latest album #3, which was released in September 2012, reached number two in the UK album chart.

"My focus will be on The Script moving forward as we are about to embark on the most important part of our career as a band," O'Donoghue said.

The BBC said that the full coaching line up for the forthcoming series will be announced in due course.

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Will.i.am unsure about Voice return

By Chi Chi Izundu
Newsbeat entertainment reporter Will.i.am has refused to confirm whether he is returning as a coach for series three of The Voice.

The 38-year-old star made the comments while hosting a party as guest editor of technology magazine Wired.

He was speaking to Newsbeat days before fellow The Voice coach Danny O'Donnoghue announced he was stepping down from the show.

The singer said he wanted to concentrate on the future career of his band The Script.

Earlier this month, singer Jessie J, also announced she would no longer be taking part in the show.

But when asked whether he would take part in series three of The Voice after giving away his salary for the show to the Prince's Trust, Will replied:

"No. What that means is I paid to do The Voice that year. That means the hotels and the travel and the food, I paid to be on TV, because the money I would have earned went to kids in the Prince's Trust to learn science, technology and mathematics. That's what that means.

So Newsbeat tried again. Would he consider doing a third series of The Voice?

"I did it the second year and it was a great experience."

His answer after the third question focused on the magazine.

The BBC says it is still in talks with him and Sir Tom Jones about their futures on the show.

Will.i.am also discussed going back to university in September to study his ventures with his I.Am.Angel Foundation which aims to help young people get into education debt free.

He says he wants more entrepreneurs and wants to "give kids the tools of tomorrow to transform their current state of mind to easily accept tasks or positions that they never otherwise would have took seriously or thought they can do."

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