It’s only a week in but The Voice has already come under fire and been branded a sham after it emerged that the celebrity “coaches” have essentially abandoned their acts in favour of focusing on their own careers.

The audition stages of the show were filmed a while ago and since then, each of the mentors have been working on their own music rather than mentoring their acts ahead of the live shows.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "It's a bit of a sham and very disheartening for anyone who has gone through the gruelling audition process and battle rounds and now finds they're on their own until the judges return."

“’The Voice' is billed as a singing competition with personal tutoring from celebrities.

"But the truth is it was all filmed months ago on a very fast schedule and now the wannabes won't see Tom, Danny, will and Jessie again until just before the live shows."

All of the celebrity judges have been busy with their own projects. Jessie is currently working hard to complete her second album which she cancelled some dates on her tour to complete.

Will.i.am is currently working with Britney Spears on her next album and both Danny O’Donoghue and Tome Jones are doing various live shows.