Watch out Simon Cowell, the BBC are coming for Gary!

As part of their plan to revamp The Voice after its dismal first series, bosses at the BBC have revealed their secret weapon, X Factor head judge, Gary Barlow!

According to reports in The Sun newspaper, producers of The Voice were “hugely impressed” with the Take That front man’s first series in the X Factor hot seat and his organisation of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee concert, and have declared their intention to tempt him over to The Voice for the next series.  (Does anyone else think that this rivalry is becoming more and more like premiership football?)

According to the paper, bosses at the BBC are set to make Barlow an offer he wont be able to refuse, making him top coach on the rival talent show (pretty much what he already has at the X Factor, just with more people watching him there!)

Barlow’s contributions to the jubilee concert saw the BBC winning a whopping 17million viewers (about 16.9million more than The Voice final), and think that his presence can help the failing talent show launched this year which was mean to be a serious competitor for Simon Cowell’s X Factor!

A BBC source said: “Gary’s proven to be a ratings banker for the BBC.

“We would love to do more TV with him and he has completely free range with us in terms of projects and is not ordered around by someone like Simon Cowell.

“His label Universal works with The Voice and they see him as someone who could turn the show around.

“He might be doing The X Factor now, but we’ll be talking to him and a dream option would be to have him signed by the end of the year.”

This may come at a good time for Barlow, as despite ITV loving him on the X Factor, reality talent puppeteer, Simon Cowell is apparently not a fan!

Cowell, who drafted Barlow in to replace him when he hot-footed it over to the States to launch The X Factor USA, has revealed to friends that this coming year will be Gary’s last on the hit ITV1 show, and even dubbed the award-winning singer, and songwriter as “wooden” in his tell-all unofficial biography, Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life Of Simon Cowell, penned by Tom Bower.

A source close to the music mogul told the newspaper: “Simon is not a big fan. He has told some friends he thinks this will be Gary’s last year on the X Factor panel.

“If that is the case Gary would be free to work where he wants in 2013.”

A spokesman for the BBC, Danny Cohen, has commented that he enjoyed working the Barlow on the concert and the Documentary that accompanied it,  On Her Majesty’s Service, but denied that they had discussed any future work with the network.

Meanwhile, an ITV source insisted tot he paper that they were very keen to keep Barlow on the X Factor, and that should the BBC approach him then a “tug of war” would be inevitable.

Since the final of The Voice last weekend, the BBC have announced a major show re-vamp for next year, especially after winner, Leanne Mitchell’s single trickling into the mid-week charts at N027!

Watch a clip from Gary Barlow: On Her Majesty’s Service below: