The Voice loses one million disappointed viewers

'The Voice' lost one million viewers over the weekend, after some fans failed to tune in for the new results show on Sunday night.

Viewers were angered after it emerged that what was thought to be a 'live' show was actually pre-recorded straight after the Saturday night show, and then shown on Sunday night.

Many switched over to ITV for 'Britain's Got Talent', which peaked at 10.7 million viewers, beating 'The Voice's 10.3 million.

Fans of the show took to the BBC message boards and Twitter to air their displeasure, calling the show 'ridiculous' and 'amateurish'.

[Related feature: This week's TV highlights]

They were further angered after it appeared that judge will.i.am was trying to fool viewers into thinking the show was going out live.

“Tonight is going to be a difficult decision for me...I hate the idea of sending talented people home...#thevoiceuk,” he tweeted, despite having already made his decision the previous night.

The judge has also been criticised after fans clearly saw him using his phone during the show, while other mentors were delivering their verdicts.

It was reported that he was asked by the show's floor manager to turn his phone off, but refused to do so.

He later tweeted: “If you saw me on my phone I wasn't being rude... I was connecting to people watching. tv, phone, laptop, & tablet.. its a new day... if I dont tweet during live tv Im not connecting to people watching in the new way" (sic).