The Voice: Natalie Gauci slams ‘inadequate pay’ and Guy Sebastian’s ‘disappointing coaching’

Former Australian Idol winner Natalie Gauci has lifted the lid on her experience competing on The Voice this year.

The 38-year-old, who was recruited by Channel Nine as a contestant this year, didn’t hold back as she slammed the show for becoming ‘too commercialised’ and failing to pay its contestants adequately.

The singer also divulged to News Corp that her celebrity mentor Guy Sebastian wouldn’t spend as much time with her during their coaching sessions as she expected – before a team of vocal coaches would take over. 

Natalie compared her time on The Voice to her winning glory on Australian Idol in 2007.

‘I think The Voice is on its last legs. Australian Idol was so innocent, it was all about the music. Now it’s become so commercialised, and it’s all about money. The Voice has lost its soul,’ she said.

The brunette also revealed she was forced to negotiate for a higher salary, a Sydney apartment, hire car and a nanny for her young son Jebediah to appear on the show.

She ended up getting paid a ‘thousand dollars up’ but noted that it was still nothing in comparison to the wages earned by the celebrity coaches.  

Natalie also explained that producers had initially asked her whose team she wanted to be on.

Despite choosing Boy George and Kelly Rowland, she was forced to pick between Guy and Delta Goodrem.

She wounded up with Guy but was less than impressed with his coaching abilities.

‘There’s a vocal coach team who look after us, we only see Guy literally for 45 minutes, he’d come in after we’d done all the coaching with the vocal team and give us a few tips,’ she explained.  

She added that she wasn’t impressed by Guy’s ‘commentary’, and felt like she wasn’t ‘nurtured’ by him. 

Natalie went on to accuse the show of editing out footage of her defending herself when American star Kelly accused her of ‘screeching like a cat’ during a performance.

She was also left unimpressed by the show focusing on contestants’ backstories rather than their actual singing capabilities.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Nine representatives for comment.