The Voice’s Max Vickers secret feud with Let It Shine’s Gary Barlow revealed as the shows face ratings battle
The singer was rejected by Gary Barlow in 2011
IT isn’t just The Voice coaches taking swipes at Gary Barlow as they battle against his brand new BBC talent show Let It Shine in the ratings.
Max Vickers, who impressed the coaches during Saturday’s episode of the show and chose Gavin Rossdale as his mentor, appears to hold a bitter grudge against the Take That star.
Their bad blood stems back to 2011 when hopeful Max found himself auditioning for The X Factor.
Despite making it to Gary’s Judges Houses in LA, the singer sadly faced the chop as only Olly Murs, Craig Colton, Frankie Cocozza, Marcus Collins and James Michael made it through.
Following the axing, Max raged on Twitter during a conversation with a friend: “No more X Factor f*** Gary Barlow.”
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He later slammed the whole talent show – while hinting at a secret feud - during an interview with online urban media platform in 2012.
Max said: “I’d recommend anyone to go on [for exposure], but it’s very manipulative.
“You can do your thing and do the best you can – but at the end of the day, they’re the ones controlling it all.
“What you see on TV isn’t always how it exactly is.
“It’s part and parcel of it.”
A source close to Max told The Sun Online: "The quotes in question date back over five years.
"Max is grateful for the experience he gained on The X Factor but is now focused on The Voice UK."
Last week, coach Will.I.Am discussed the rivalry between the two shows during an exclusive chat with The Sun.
He said: “He’s opening up for the headliners.
“He’s got to keep the people’s attention because they’re going to jump and come to us.
“Saturday night, the opening act, guess what, people leave that stage, they go to the main stage and go, ‘Oh s***, The Voice is on ITV’.”
Despite the fight talk, Gary came out on top in the ratings war.
His show Let It Shine had a peak 6.8million viewers — 400,000 more than its ITV rival The Voice.
And in a double blow for The Voice, its ratings lag behind the 7.12million it got last series while still on the BBC.
The two shows overlapped on the schedules, with The Voice starting in the last 25 minutes of Let It Shine.
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