The Voice Australia’s 2022 winner crowned in grand finale

“Get it together Australia”: Some fans have reacted with fury when The Voice’s new winner was announced. WARNING: Spoilers.

WARNING: The Voice spoilers below.

The 2022 winner of The Voice Australia has been announced, taking home $100,000 prize money and a recording contract with Universal Music Australia.

And the winner is... Lachie Gill, from Rita Ora’s team. The 24-year-old Melbourne PE teacher and former footy player said he “never, ever would’ve expected” to win, before he performed his new winner’s single Wasted Time.

Stream more entertainment news live & on demand with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >

Lachie Gill is the new winner of The Voice.

The four remaining contestants battling it out in Sunday’s finale were Thando Sikwila from Team Keith, Team Guy’s Jordan Tavita, Team Rita’s Lachie Gill, and Faith Sosene from Team Jess. There wasn’t a weak link among them, with the coaches heaping praise on every performance.

But Lachie’s win wasn’t without some social media controversy, with some viewers complaining he was picked as the winner among a diverse top four.

Really bad, 3 people if colour with incredible voices and the one white guy with tge average voice wins. Well done Australia providing yet again if you aren't white you can't win #TheVoiceAU

— 💧 Jenny Mul (@jenharl) May 29, 2022

Of course the white boy’s gonna win #TheVoiceAU

— kip in sydney (@KGinSydney) May 29, 2022

Not happy at all with the result on @TheVoiceAU you had 3 amazing singers with beautiful voices and the white guy with an average voice wins please make it make sense #TheVoiceAU

— DonskiJazz (@DonskiJazz) May 29, 2022

I spoke too soon! of course #TheVoiceAU viewers would choose the only white person in the line-up🥴 get it together Australia https://t.co/agbVz82EsXpic.twitter.com/3Kwv5fjEOJ

— Ayan (a-yarn) 🇸🇴 (@waa_ayan) May 29, 2022

Well… that was a waste of time - 3 incredible singers of colour, & the mediocre white guy with a mo won 🤬
#TheVoice#TheVoiceAU

— Caro Line (@craftycaro1971) May 29, 2022

of course the white guy won #TheVoiceAU. predictable much 🙄

— ᴍᴀʀɪᴇ-ᴄʟᴀɪʀᴇ (@mclovesnyc) May 29, 2022

Yep a white boy with no voice won #TheVoiceAU 🙄
What more could go wrong aye? Stop white washing everything. Stop making us all look bad. We must demand to see all the votes that came in @TheVoiceAU

— Ted Lundy (@teddy_lundy) May 29, 2022

Here’s how it all went down …

The performances

Faith Sosene did Christina Aguilera proud.

Lachie Gill put his own spin on a Cyndi Lauper classic.

Faith Sosene went first, delivering a soulful performance of the Christina Aguilera ballad Beautiful – and the judges were full of praise, with Guy Sebastian declaring it “the best singing we’ve seen in this entire competition.”

Lachie Gill sang an orchestrated, surprisingly rocky version of Cyndi Lauper’s classic Time After Time. He said he was “super-nervous”, but the coaches ate it up – Jess Mauboy revealed Time After Time was her favourite song in the world, and she said his rendition didn’t disappoint.

“That was such a great spin on such a classic love song – you made it modern and cool,” Rita Ora told him.

Thando Sikwila performs.

Jordan’s performance moved Rita to tears.

Thando earned huge cheers with a stirring performance of the Andra Day song Rise Up – which Keith Urban called a “perfect full circle moment” for the young mum.

“What you represent is so important for me as a woman,” Rita Ora told her.

Finally, Jordan smashed Benson Boone’s soulful ballad Ghost Town – a performance that brought coach Rita Ora to tears: “That was amazing … that was so special,” she said.

Each contestant also teamed up with their coach for a special duet during the grand finale.

Confusion over finale voting

The Voice host Sonia Kruger and coach Guy Sebastian during the finale.

Some fans were left confused last week as public voting was open ahead of the grand finale, yet previews of the episode were already shown on TV. How could fans vote if the finale had already been filmed, some viewers wondered?

News.com.au can clarify that the grand finale had been prerecorded, but viewers’ votes were promised to “entirely determine the winner” because alternate endings had been recorded.

That means each of the four finalists had to act out their winning (and losing) moment, and the ending that aired was then determined by the public votes. So while viewers watched Lachie win on Sunday night, his was one of four reactions filmed.