The Voice UK's Billy and Louie Hughes tackled school bullying by singing

6 November 2024

'The Voice UK’'s Billy and Louie Hughes say singing helped them overcome bullying at school.

Billy and Louie Hughes on The Voice UK

Swindon’s singing sensations, 21 – who were the first twins to reach the final and finished as runners-up – were subject to verbal attacks, but their connection to music “in amongst slightly chaotic times” helped them tackle it.

Billy exclusively told BANG Showbiz: “I look back on school, and people said things and did things that totally weren’t acceptable.”

The ITV show was not the first brush of showbiz for the boys as they appeared on BBC’s ‘Little Mix: The Search’ aged 16.

He added: “Doing something like ‘Little Mix: The Search’ was eye-opening but also, we had so many people in our school be like: ‘Oh my god, these guys go to my school. It’s so cool,’ and I’m like: ‘You literally hate me!’"

Billy went on: “We didn’t really have any friends in our year at all because we were so interested in singing and art and drama, and doing all the things we loved, and nobody liked that in our year for some reason.

“There was nobody that we could connect to that enjoyed the same things as we did.

“We actually enjoyed studying and getting on with life, but people didn’t seem to be like that.”

Despite the ordeal, the ‘No Good for Each Other’ performers – who were coached by the "chilled out" and "really humble" Sir Tom Jones, 84, on the programme – insist they also have “great memories” of their school days with their pals and “because we had each other, we were strong enough to pull through”.

Viewers of the show blasted the ‘Sexbomb’ legend for giving Billy and Louie a shot at victory rather than Bicester's Hollie Peabody, 22, and Oxford's Ace, 20, with them dubbing the decision “the biggest mistake” in the show’s history.

However, it was Bristol’s Ava, 21, who took the top prize - £50,000, a record deal with EMI and a trip to Universal Orlando Resort, in Florida – after being coached by McFly’s Tom Fletcher, 39, and Danny Jones, 38.

Louie says he “don’t really care” if people think things are the wrong choice because they focus on the heaps of “lovely messages and comments” from their devoted fans, as well as “having the seal of approval from Sir Tom”.

After they smashed the blind auditions with their spectacular rendition of Whitney Houston’s ‘Run to You’, and sailing through to the final as members of Tom’s team, the “all-round amazing experience” has led to “lots of people” interested in snapping them up for opportunities.

They released their debut EP ‘Mainifesting’, which was inspired by ‘90s R+B, last year and are now gearing up to perform at their sell-out Swindon Wyvern Theatre show with their six-piece band on February 6, 2025.

Louie said: “Thank you to everyone who supports us.

"It’s honestly amazing to know how well received we are and to know we’ve definitely got a space in this industry that won’t be going too soon.”

Billy added: "I’m always so grateful to Sir Tom, so thank you to him."