will.i.am thought the removal of Jessie J and Danny O'Donoghue from The Voice's panel would see the show falter.
The '#thatPOWER' hitmaker admits he was worried the third series would be a flop when Jessie and Danny quit after season two, but the Black Eyed Peas star admits the new coaches Kylie Minogue and Ricky Wilson have felt like "family" alongside him and Sir Tom Jones.
Speaking at the launch of 'The Voice' yesterday, he said: "Having done a lot of series three, I really like this season. I like the way it feels, I like the relationship between the coaches. This feels like a wonderful family and the edit is amazing.
"I was really concerned to be real with you. I was like, 'What? Jessie's gone, Danny's gone.' The first season was like, 'What? What are we doing?'
"The second season was like, 'OK, this is cool,' I like looking over at Tom and he's smiling back with his knowledge smile. He has like this knowledge smile as if to say, 'I know everything.'
"Season three is just amazing, I just love it."
Ricky admits he felt under pressure before his debut on the show and has warned fans not to expect him to wear the same flesh-baring outfits as Danny O'Donoghue, who quit the show last year.
He added: "I felt lots of pressure because it's going on TV and it's something I've never done as myself before, I've been singing, which is relatively easy.
"But I'm a different guy to Danny so I'm going to come across different. It's a cop out to say you can't compare but you can't compare. I can't wear those low-slung T-shirts."
The first episode of series three of 'The Voice' - which features a contestant whose day job is impersonating Nessa from sitcom 'Gavin and Stacey' - airs on Saturday January 11 on BBC One at 7pm.
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