Why did Tom Nitti leave ‘The Voice?’ New Hartford native bows out of competition

Reba McEntire was one team member short when came time for the Playoff Rounds on Season 24 of “The Voice.”

Tom Nitti, a 31-year-old singer from New Hartford, was unexpectedly absent due to ‘personal reasons.’

At the top of the episode, McEntire said, “I have wonderfully talented people, but Tom had to leave for personal reasons, so I only have five artists tonight.”

Host Carson Daily reiterated that Nitti’s exit was for ‘personal reasons’ but did not elaborate.

While it was revealed that the vocalist would no longer continue in the competition “The Voice” has not further commented at this time.

Last night Nitti broke the silence and posted on his Instagram page. He expressed gratitude to his fans and disclosed that his kids will always come first– if he were to make the decision to leave again he would, “over and over.”

Nitti was one of six finalists on Team Reba. With his departure, that leaves Jordan Rainer, Ruby Leigh, Jacquie Roar and Noah Spencer heading into the Playoffs– plus, her Super Save singer Ms. Monét.

Despite being down a member, McEntire had an otherwise good episode. Using her Super Save she onboarded Ms. Monét.

The 51-year-old sang a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do).” With tears in her eyes, the country legend got emotional. “I just love ya,” said McEntire.

Who is Tom Nitti?

Tom Nitti is a New York State Trooper from the Mohawk Valley. He was a contestant on Team Reba on Season 24 of “The Voice.”

Following his graduation from New Hartford Central School he joined the military and was deployed to Afghanistan as an Airborne Cavalry Scout. After taking mortar fire during combat Nitti suffered a serious brain injury and was awarded the Purple Heart medal for his honorable service.

Returning home, he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined law enforcement to serve with the state police.

“Being able to sing in front of thousands of people has always been my dream,” Nitti said in a past interview with the Observer-Dispatch. “Once I had kids that changed to wanting to be known locally and serving my community.”

From a young age, Nitti performed annually at the Herkimer County Fair. He later advanced to participate in the New York State Fair. In his final year participating, he faced a contestant who could play guitar as well as sing.

“I noticed how these two skills together accelerated him above me. I went straight to Big Apple music and bought a cheap guitar,” Nitti said. “With 100 bucks in my pocket I said, let’s do it.”

At 18 years old, Nitti taught himself to play guitar, depending solely on YouTube.

Reba was the only chair to turn for Tom’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” in the Blind Auditions.

He won his Battle Round performance of Cody Johnson’s “Til You Can’t” and was saved by Reba following his Knockout Round cover of The Temptations’ “(I Know) I’m Losing You.”

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The singer continued to impress throughout the season receiving words of encouragement from other coaches on the show.

“Tom, I keep getting blown away because to emote the way you did at the end, it just kept building and building,” said Gwen Stefani during the Knockout Rounds.

Tune in to the rest of Season 24 of “The Voice” on NBC and streaming on Peacock to follow Team Reba’s next steps.