When Tom Nitti, 31, unexpectedly left The Voice last month during the playoff rounds citing “personal reasons,” the Team Reba country singer didn’t provide a lot of information about why he unexpectedly had to bounce.
But in a new interview with the Utica Observer-Dispatch, Nitti finally opened up about the difficult situation at home that forced him to make the decision. “It’s always been a dream of mine to pursue music full time, but I can’t do that without a cushion,” said Nitti, a New York State trooper and former Airborne Cavalry Scout who suffered a serious brain injury in a mortar attack in Afghanistan that earned him a Purple Heart. “As a dad, I need to make sure my children will be supported,” he said.
Performing in front of thousands of people has “always been my dream” Nitti told the paper. But once he became a dad, his goal adjusted to being known locally and serving his community. “The biggest misconception is when people think I went on the show knowing that I’d leave,” said the father of two young children who lamented leaving his kids when he deployed to Afghanistan for several rotations and during his stints in airborne school and a warrior leader course. “It all happened so quickly and I needed to make a fast decision. I chose my family and I’ll tell you why.”
After turning heads, and chairs, with his covers of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” in the blind auditions and winning the battle rounds with his Cody Johnson “Til You Can’t” cover — and then getting saved by McEntire in the knockout round thanks to his take on the Temptations’ “(I Know) I’m Losing You” — Nitti became one of Team Reba’s six finalists.
Nitti — who was slated to appear on season 23 of The Voice but said he had to defer a year because he hadn’t given the state police enough of a head’s up — told the paper that even though pursuing music full time was his long-time goal, his priority was making sure his children, Rayleigh and Brently, were well-supported.
Then, five months before season 24 aired, Nitti filed for divorce. After going up against Jacquie Roar during the knockout rounds, Nitti said she asked him what was wrong when he seemed glum despite McEntire saving him from elimination. “I spilled my guts,” he said. “I told her about how I had just received an email from my lawyers urging me to come home because my ex-wife was going after primary custody.”
The “gut-wrenching” moment pushed Nitti to make the difficult choice to leave the show, “not because I missed my kids, but because I couldn’t imagine losing them,” he told the paper. “I am happy with the decision I made, but should it have come to that point? Absolutely not,” he added. Though he left before the shows went live, Nitti said he was not prepared for the reaction to his leave-taking during the pre-taped portion of the season.
“I never believed that things were meant to be until this all happened,” Nitti said. “The most positive thing from my experience on the show was the camaraderie I found among other vocalists.”
Shortly after leaving the show, Nitti acknowledged his split in an lengthy Instagram post, in which he wrote, “As much as it absolutely stings to say, I had to make probably one of the hardest yet easiest decisions ever and ultimately at the end of the day, my kids will always come first and if I had to make the same decision again I’d do it over and over.” He also promised at the time that, “This isn’t the end of me and I’ll do what I do best for everyone to see which is keep my head down and move forward playing music and raising/creating new memories with a family I will continue to grow.”
Earlier this week, Nitti dropped the new original, “One Night Stand,” with fellow contestants Bias and Lennon VanderDoes. “There’s a hole in the wall dive bar/ It’s downtown/ Can’t believe a girl like you would come around/ Strut keeps turning heads/ Gotta get you outta here,” Nitti sings on the country ramble. Bias is still on the show, but VanderDoes was sent packing after the playoff round after Gwen Stefani used a Super Save to bring him back. Nitti told the paper he’s also written a new song about his journey called “Redemption Road.”
“I’m hoping one day my kids will be able to see why I did what I did instead of just thinking that I quit,” he said.
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