Fans of The Voice were overjoyed when legendary actress and singer Hannah Waddingham joined Tom Jones as a guest mentor on the ITV show.

The Emmy Award winning star, 50, is known for starring in hits including Ted Lasso and Game of Thrones but she has also made a name for herself for a number of lead roles in theatre productions. The mum of one, who is a friend of the Welsh icon, sat beside him as his hopefuls belted out song, hoping to make it through to the next round.

And while viewers were stunned and excited at her appearance, Hannah confessed that it was a “pinch me” moment for her as she was “thrilled” to be part of the show. And so it’s no surprise that fans rushed to X asking ITV bosses to make Hannah a permanent mentor as she became an immediate hit among the audience.

When asked why he had chosen Hannah to be his guest mentor, he said it was down to the fact that she was a “strong performer”, so knew what she was talking about. This was in stark contrast to Will.i.am’s use of artificial intelligence as his guest mentor, who he named Felicia.

Hannah Waddingham delighted fans with guest appearance on The Voice ( 
Image:
ITV)

And fans were not impressed. One person said: “Imagine finding out that Jones had Waddingham as guest judge, and you had AI with Will #TheVoice #TheVoiceUK.” Another person said: “Added nothing, except slight awkwardness. Especially after having guest Hannah Waddingham light up the judging panel.”

A third person wrote: “Can we please get Hannah Waddingham on the proper panel next year? #TheVoiceUK” Meanwhile a fourth person commented: “hannah is the perfect person to help tom with who makes it through. she’s compassionate and kind but she’s also super talented and, as someone with over 25 years’ experience, she knows what to look out for.”

The excitement of Hannah being on the show was also shared by host Emma Willis. She said: “This is one of my if not my favourite day at work because Hannah’s here.” Discussing the first three performances, she told the hopefuls: “You really were quite something else’ before joking: ‘You can’t see but my legs have got goosebumps.”

And when Tom’s second group featuring Keely, Abdul, Jack and Holly sang Everytime by Britney Spears, she clapped her hands and quietly said: “Oh I feel for them.” Once all the contestants had given it their all to get through to the next round, Hannah told the camera: “How do you choose? You’ve already got a ridiculous calibre.” Speaking to the group before revealing the decision, she told them: “You all completely owned the songs and have exquisite tones and have great voices.”