UK's 'Voice' contestant a friend of one of the judges

'The Voice' in the UK faces controversy after it emerged a contestant was friends with judge Jessie J.

Nate James - who will sing 'Crazy' on tonight's episode of the TV singing show - has admitted he knew the 'Domino' hitmaker from his time as a songwriter for the Universal Music Publishing Group.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, he revealed: "So me and Jessie ... I signed with Universal Publishing as a writer before I became an artist.

"So when she signed her first deal I met her on the music scene and we had mutual friends. It was nice to be reacquainted with her."

The 33-year-old singer - who has released three albums - has claimed he worked with Aretha Franklin and Nora Jones, and was reportedly head-hunted to appear on the show.

In 2009, the three-time MOBO Awards nominee slammed TV talent shows because of the huge cut taken by label bosses.

He previously said: "[Executives] take their chunk and you're left with a little bit."

Meanwhile, Jessie has recently admitted she has tried to correct her mistakes from the competition's first series after describing herself as "irritating".

She added: "Yeah, I learned a lot. I can come across as a bit irritating sometimes, watching it back. I looked at a picture of myself and was like, 'You look a bit scary!' "