"I ran off stage, to the toilets, and blacked out"— Paloma Faith recalls allegedly sexist incident on The Voice that was cut from show

Warrior singer Paloma Faith, known for her songs, being a coach on The Voice and The Voice Kids, and for recently releasing her memoir called MILF on June 6, 2024. While there are multiple instances related to the singer's life in the memoir, the one that has made headlines is an allegedly sexist incident on The Voice's sets.

The incident took place when Paloma Faith was taking hormones during her IVF treatment in 2016. Recalling the incident in her memoir, Paloma mentioned:

“I ran off stage, to the toilets, and blacked out. I don’t actually have a recollection of any of it until I came to on the floor with me then PA’s hands cupping me face…"

She also mentioned constantly shouting "My f**king father" continuously and "sort of convulsing."

What had happened was that Paloma pretended to fall asleep as a playful joke while one of the unnamed judges was talking about a contestant. Calling it an "ill-timed and misread joke", the Mistakes singer wrote in her memoir that the judge took offense to it and responded by saying that Paloma had "probably got PMT" (pre-menstrual tension). The remark was cut from the final edit.

Paloma Faith's reaction to the remark arose from the fact that she was undertaking hormones as a part of her IVF treatment in 2016. Describing it as the "hormones of 14 periods at once", the singer mentioned that she felt sensitive and emotional.

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"I felt both shame at experiencing that in front of a studio audience": Paloma Faith recalls alleged sexist incident on the sets of The Voice

Talking about the allegedly sexist incident on the sets of The Voice, Paloma Faith's memoir describes the incident in great detail, mentioning her feelings in that moment. In her account of the incident, Paloma mentioned that if it had taken place on a normal day she would have expressed her concern at the "inbuilt sexism of him" for assuming that her negative response was the action of a female condition.

Talking about how she was reportedly dismissed as "just another woman with PMT", Paloma Faith mentioned:

“But on this day, pumped full of hormones, I felt both shame at experiencing that in front of a studio audience, and like I couldn’t retaliate due to my desire to save face."

However, her fellow coach on The Voice, will.i.am pointed out that the Lullaby singer looked as if she was on the verge of a panic attack, and offered to take over for her so she could assess the situation and leave the stage. Later, the unnamed coach and Paloma were offered conflict resolution by the production team before the shooting proceeded.

Paloma hasn't named the coach with whom the emotional altercation took place. However, according to a report by the Independent on June 17, 2024, the coach in question could be the lead singer of Culture Club, Boy George. Paloma Faith and Boy George did share a similar incident in 2016 wherein Paloma pretended to fall asleep while Boy George gave feedback to contestant Kevin Simm.

As mentioned by Paloma, the remark was supposedly cut from the edit and the final edit showcases an annoyed Boy George saying "Excuse me, Palaver".

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Paloma Faith's memoir MILF stands for Motherhood, Identity, Love, and F*ckery. In one of her Instagram posts promoting the book, Paloma mentioned that she has written the book "as a hug for women and an eye opener for men".