Britain's Got Talent and The Voice UK launch shows to clash?

The Voice - BBC One - JudgesReports claim the launch shows of Britain’s Got Talent and The Voice UK will air opposite each other later this month.

Britain’s Got Talent is due to return to ITV1 for its sixth season shortly with many tipping late March as the most likely launch date. The Voice UK is also expected to launch on BBC One later this month and now tabloid reports claim the two shows could clash. The Sun reports that both shows are due to launch on March 24th and will air directly opposite each other in a bitter ratings battle.

An ‘insider’ from the BBC blasted ITV over the rumoured clash between the two shows telling The Sun ‘This is typical of ITV, parking their tanks on our lawn just as we launch a major new format. They are smarting because they didn’t get the show although they bid £10million more than us’ However, an ‘insider’ for ITV hit back telling the tabloid ‘We haven’t declared our launch date but, if I was a betting man, I’d go for March 24. The BBC know we always launch BGT around this time. If anyone is parking tanks on a lawn, it’s them on ours.’

Britain’s Got Talent sixth season will see another new line-up of judges following the departures of David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre after just one season. Simon Cowell – who was absent from last year’s series because of his commitments in America – is returning to the panel and has drafted in David Walliams and Alesha Dixon (poaching her from Strictly Come Dancing) as new judges. Amanda Holden, the only judge to have been on the panel throughout BGT‘S run, will also return.

The Voice UK will be presented by Holly Willoughby and Reggie Yates and its judges panel will be made up of Jessie J, Will.i.am, Tom Jones and Danny O’Donoghue. It was rumoured that singer and actor Will Young would be part of the panel but was reportedly replaced, at the last minute, by Danny O’Donoghue. The BBC has high hopes for The Voice UK believing its format, in which contestants audition without the judges actually seeing them (called Blind auditions), will be a hit with viewers.