Kelly Rowland and Cheryl at Via, Manchester on Tuesday TikTok/nickjamesgiaquint/lake.shaun
Cheryl Tweedy and Kelly Rowland have clearly found some time to let their hair down while shooting the upcoming season of The Voice UK.
On Tuesday night, after a day of filming in Manchester, the two former girl band stars were spotted enjoying themselves at Via, a bar situated in the city’s iconic LGBTQ+ district, Canal Street.
The pair were caught on camera rubbing shoulders with the bar’s resident drag queens and delivering impromptu renditions of their respective floor-fillers Fight For This Love and Commander.
Both Cheryl and Kelly previously served as judges on The X Factor, albeit never at the same time.
Earlier this month, after weeks of speculation, it was announced that the former Girls Aloud star would be joining Will.i.am and Kelly on the next season of The Voice UK, alongside British rapper Aitch, replacing outgoing stars Sir Tom Jones and McFly’s Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones.
Following the announcement, Sir Tom made it clear that it was not his decision to leave the ITV singing show.
“To be clear, I did not want to leave The Voice as I love the show and really appreciate the audience,” he said in a statement. “ITV made this decision – obviously a while ago, and I was told just recently.”
He continued: “The reason given is because of a financial difficulty with insurance. They now say in the press they wanted to ‘refresh’ the show, and with a new coaching line-up there wouldn’t be a chair for me.
“They are offering a much-reduced role where I would make an appearance but without being actually involved from the start, and I’m not thrilled about that. So, the only thing I know right now, is that there’s never a good time to fire an 86-year-old who’s still pretty good at his job.”
ITV told HuffPost UK in response: “We have loved working with Sir Tom Jones over the past nine years on The Voice UK. While he will no longer be a full-time coach on series 15, we continue to talk to Sir Tom and his team about his involvement in the next series.”
Meanwhile, Alesha Dixon and Stacey Solomon will be joining The Voice UK as its new hosts, taking over from Emma Willis, who is currently gearing up to make her debut as one of Strictly Come Dancing’s new presenters.