The Voice is currently in the middle of its 25th season, marking two seasons without Blake Shelton filling a coach’s chair. But the longest-lasting OG coach of the reality singing competition isn’t pining for his old job.
During the recent grand opening of Ole Red in Las Vegas, Blake Shelton opened up about The Voice days gone by and revealed if he would ever consider returning to the show.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Shelton shared that while he misses the community the show offers, he doesn’t miss the job at all.
“I miss the people. I mean, those people became like family to me, literally from the crew all up to the producers of the show. I was with them more than I was with my family… I miss that,” Shelton said before adding that he didn’t miss the job.
“I totally needed a break from that because if I wasn’t into it, then it wasn’t good for whoever was on my team. I don’t want to be someone who’s just going through the motions. Those artists need somebody fighting for them,” the “God’s Country” singer said. “The second I started feeling like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t even remember what season this is anymore. Who are the coaches on this season?’ [I knew that] I needed [to get] away from here.”
While Blake is enjoying his other business ventures at the moment, including his Ole Red restaurant chain and his television game show Barmageddon, the singer said that he would be willing to return to his Voice chair under one condition.
“If they were ever able to put together the original four coaches again, maybe [I’d return] for one season, a one-off,” he said. “That would be fun for me…That would be something I would be interested in doing.”
Blake Shelton coached The Voice for 23 seasons over 12 years.
The Voice debuted in 2011 with Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine, and Christina Aguilera at the coaching helm. Over the next 12 years, coaches would come and go, with the likes of Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams, Usher, Kelly Clarkson, and more taking their turn in the iconic red chairs. But Blake Shelton was a mainstay.
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He went on to become the show’s winningest coach with 9 wins in 23 seasons. Blake announced his departure from The Voice in October of 2022, saying that he was leaving in order to focus on his family.
“I’ve been wrestling with this for a while,” Blake wrote in a statement posted to social media. “I’ve decided that it’s time for me to step away from The Voice after next season.”
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Blake Shelton met his now-wife, Gwen Stefani, on The Voice. He became a stepdad to her three boys, Kingston (17), Zuma (15), and Apollo (9).
