The Voice winner Chris Sebastian hits back at claims the show was ‘rigged’

Chris Sebastian was crowned the winner of The Voice Australia on Sunday night.

However, many viewers slammed the singing competition as ‘unfair’ and ‘rigged’ due to the fact that Chris is the younger brother of coach Guy Sebastian.

On Monday, the 31-year-old singer hit back at the claims during an interview with The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

‘I knew it was coming but I weighed up the risks,’ he said of the backlash and allegations of favouritism. 

‘I was like, “Look, this isn’t even about me anymore.” I’ve got a family to provide for I’ve been wanting to do this my whole life.

‘At the end of the day, there are people that voted for me and I’m going to sing for them and if the others don’t want to listen that’s all good.’    

Chris added that his famous brother had warned him there would be negative comments, but gave him some words of advice. 

‘Guy said straight away, “You are going to get some stuff, but at the end of the day enough people voted for you so relish in that,”‘ he said.   

However, Chris did joke that Guy was secretly annoyed that his team member, Johnny Manuel, didn’t win the competition.. 

‘He likes to win, so I think a part of him was gutted… but then another part was thrilled for me,’ Chris chuckled.

Chris took home the $100,000 cash prize and a record contract with EMI on Sunday, but many fans flocked to Twitter to share their frustration with the result.   

‘The Voice has just lost its credibility,’ one fan tweeted, as others questioned why Chris had been allowed to audition in the first place.

‘He broke the rules by even participating. He has an immediate family member working for the company. Why was this allowed? It says in the terms and conditions not to apply if you have family working for the company. #RIGGED,’ one furious viewer tweeted, while sharing a screenshot of The Voice’s application form.

Another wrote: ‘A relative of one of The Voice judges won this year… what a surprising and totally not rigged coincidence!’  

Others on Twitter also stood up for Chris, saying he was deserving of the win and that neither Chris nor Guy should be shamed for the public’s decision.

One fan pointed out that while the show’s terms and conditions do state that ‘you cannot have a relative that is working on or part of the show’, exemptions are granted ‘at the sole discretion of the Producer’.