Just days after the Season 16 finale of The Voice in 2019, longtime coach Adam Levine announced he was leaving the show. Levine, along with Blake Shelton, had served as a coach from the show’s debut and had appeared on every season up to that point.
Levine addressed his departure from The Voice in a post on social media, saying “it was time to move on.”
“[Being on ‘The Voice’] went on to be a life shaping experience that will be close to my heart forever. Thank you NBC for signing me up. I am truly honored to have been a part of something I’ll always cherish for the rest of my life,” Levine said in his statement.
View this post on Instagram
Prior to his departure, Levine expressed how he wasn’t pleased with the way Season 16 turned out for him. The show introduced a new fan-voted cross battles that season, and those cross battles ended with him having just a few team members left. They were eventually eliminated, and he was left without a team for multiple weeks.
Levine didn’t mince words when asked what he thought about the cross battles. Speaking during an interview with ET, he said, “I hope they change it immediately, cause I think it sucks.”
Even though Levine’s decision to leave The Voice came as a shock to many, his best bud and fellow coach Blake Shelton had a feeling his departure was coming:
“I think we all knew, on the inside of the show, that he was ready to make a move,” Shelton said in a June 2019 interview with ET. ”For a guy like Adam…for him to have even done it as long as he did without wanting to move on to the next thing, is amazing. But I know he’s happy with his decision. Doesn’t mean I am, or any of us [are happy].“
Gwen Stefani went on to fill Levine’s chair during Season 17. Nick Jonas filled in for her in Season 18, she returned in Season 19, and now Jonas is coming back for Season 20.
Even though we’re now approaching the fourth season without Levine, fans still miss seeing him as a coach. So when he recently hosted a Q&A session on Instagram, one curious fan asked if he’d ever come back to The Voice.
Levine’s response was, “No thank you?“
Sorry to burst your bubble Voice fans, but it seems we won’t see Levine back on the show any time soon (or at all). However, it should make you happy to know that he still likes to poke fun at his old friend Blake Shelton.
One fan asked Levine if he misses seeing Shelton as much as he used to, and Levine joked, “Blake who?”
Levine and Shelton had quite the bromance on the show. Check out the video below to revisit some of their best and funniest moments on the show.
We’re sad to hear Levine has no plans to return to The Voice, but we wish him the best.