‘I’m a sucker for a voice like that,’ Paloma Faith tells Hackney singer Theo Llewellyn

A third contestant from Hackney has made it through the blind auditions of the fifth series of BBC talent show The Voice and will be mentored by the Only Love Can Hurt Like This singer, Paloma Faith.

Theo Llewellyn, 26, came up against singing superstar judges, will.i.am, Ricky Wilson, Boy George and Faith, doing his take of the Anita Baker song Sweet Love, broadcast on BBC One on Saturday night.

The show’s formula sees four coaches, all noteworthy recording artists, listen to the contestants in chairs facing away from the stage to avoid seeing them.

If a coach likes what they hear they press a button to rotate their chair to show they want to work with them.

“I’m a sucker for a voice like that,” Paloma Faith told him.

“I turned because there’s no doubt you’ve got an absolutely beautiful voice, I really thought it was a great audition so well done.”

Theo, a Sainsbury’s supermarket night shift worker who also DJs at Troy’s Bar in Hoxton Street on Tuesdays, told the Gazette: “A few of my friends previously applied, I thought I might as well give it a try, I thought The Voice would be a good platform to me and try and get as far with my music career.”

So far this series singer Kagan Fage-Burgin, 19, and beat boxer Brian Bennett have also made it through the auditions with celebrity mentors.

Hackney boy Jermain Jackman won the singing competition two years ago aged just 18, and went on to release his self-titled debut album last March.