Longridge's Hayley exits BBC's The Voice

The Longridge vocalist was highly praised for her rendition of Lady Antebellum’s ‘I Need You Now’ but didn’t make celebrity judge Will.i.am’s final three.

The 22-year-old was left on tenterhooks as the former Black Eyed Peas star dallied over his final choice before eventually picking Hayley’s rival Tanya.

This meant Hayley was one of three sent home before the final.

The judge had agonised over the decision and had to prompted several times to make the final call before saying: “This is for the show and has nothing to do with how I feel about you as an artist.”

Hayley’s performance had earned a wealth of plaudits with Will gushing: “I love how she can take something and put her own direction into it.”

Fellow judge Welsh singer Tom Jones offered his advice on the song, saying: “You could get a little looser, you did really well though.”

And judge Gavin Rossdale added he thought Hayley kept getting “better and better”.

The show has been a whirlwind for Hayley after her dad Geno didn’t make it through the first round.

The 54-year-old was there to support her at every stage since including Saturday night’s show.