Blake Shelton is gearing up to sit in the spinning red chairs on NBC’s The Voice for the last time, as he’s set to leave the popular singing competition series after the upcoming season, which will premiere on March 6.
The country superstar, who has been on The Voice since it premiered in 2011, sat down with his fellow season 23 coaches Kelly Clarkson, Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper on Monday (Feb. 27) to reflect on why he has decided to leave the show.
“I think I was close to calling it a day right when COVID hit and then, because of COVID, I didn’t want to walk away from the show and leave everybody in a bind,” Shelton revealed. “I mean, this show changed my life. I’ll stay until the world kind of gets back to normal.”
When asked what it would take for him to stay, the “God’s Country” singer teased, “I’d like for Kelly to not be on the show anymore. I’d say there’s too much Kelly Clarkson on television in general.”
On how the show impacted his life, Shelton gushed, “I met my wife [Gwen Stefani] on this show. It has changed my life in every way it possibly can, from a personal standpoint and obviously from a career standpoint. I actually read people say that the only star The Voice ever found was Blake Shelton.”
When the show’s host and producer Carson Daly reacted to that last sentence, Shelton doubled down with another joke. “It is what it is, America,” he said with a laugh.
Shelton announced his departure from The Voice back in October. “This show has changed my life in every way for the better and it will always feel like home to me,” he wrote in a statement posted to social media. “It’s been a hell of a ride over these 12 years of chair turns and I want to thank everyone at The Voice from NBC, every producer, the writers, musicians, crew and catering people, you are the best. It takes a lot of work, passion, and adult beverages (Ha!) to pull off a live show twice a week.”
The singer concluded his statement by thanking the contestants and the fans. “It would not happen without you,” he wrote.
As coach, the “Boys ‘Round Here” singer remains the statistically best coach in terms of winning seasons — having crowned a champ from his team in nine of the show’s 22 seasons.
