Jimmy Barnes Thinks 'The Voice' Is OK, But He'd Never Go Near 'I'm A Celeb'

Aussie legend Jimmy Barnes was heavily rumoured to appear on the latest series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, but according to the Cold Chisel frontman, he never even considered the idea.

"Someone who knew me falsely leaked that so they could advertise their shitty show," Barnes said in an interview with news.com.au. 

"I wouldn’t go on that show if you paid me...a lot. It didn’t even get that far. When I even heard it was mentioned I said ‘You’ve got to be kidding’.

"I didn’t say anything at the time when I was rumoured to be appearing on it because I didn’t want to give them any mileage but I think they dropped that out as a rumour to help give their show profile, I'm sure they did that to other people as well. It’s a dirty business, TV!"

While the 60-year-old singer confirmed that he has also been approached many times to be a judge on singing competition shows in the past, Barnes has repeatedly declined. 

"My daughter (Mahalia) did The Voice, she learnt a lot from it and grew a lot from it so I had to change my mind on it a bit," he explained.

"I don’t think I’d like to do it because either I’d be too soft or I’d be too blunt and tell people to give up, I wouldn’t like to insult anyone. There’s a lot of great singers who have come through them but it’s more about television than singing on those shows."

Currently gearing up for national tour this August, Barnes also touched on fellow veteran rockers Midnight Oil, who announced they'll be reforming for a string of shows next year. 

"When [frontman Peter Garrett] went into politics I thought it was a big mistake because Peter’s too honest to be a politician," Barnes said.

"Peter did a lot of great work from the sidelines in Midnight Oil but to really change anything you have to get in among it and get your hands dirty. Peter Garrett had enough conviction to go in and try and get into the system and change it.

"He got in there and it was a lot harder than he thought, I don’t think it was as successful as he thought it would be. But coming back out and still having the convictions and the morals and everything he now has, he now knows the inner workings of parliament and he can do a lot more work now he’s out of it. I think it was a great thing and I was proud of him for doing it.

"They’re a band who won’t be tempered by time, I think they’re going to be as raw and as edgy and wild and as tough. Not that they’ve got anything to prove, but I think they’ve had a lot bottled up for a long time."

To see all the dates of Barnes' upcoming tour, as well as a newly-announced show at One Electric Day Festival, check out theGuide.