Warring coaches, silly pranks, sass from Blake Shelton — it’s just another ordinary day on The Voice. On the Monday (March 20) episode of NBC’s singing competition, the country crooner’s fan-favorite friendship with new coach Niall Horan was put to the test after the former boyband star fumbled an attempted prank on Kelly Clarkson.
The hilarious moment happened after both Horan and Clarkson turned around for 18-year-old Gina Miles, who performed a gorgeous rendition of Katy Perry’s “The One That Got Away.” As the two coaches tried to convince the young singer to join their respective teams, Shelton wrote a helpful note on a piece of paper and slyly passed it to the “Slow Hands” singer — who proceeded to read the secret message out loud.
“Kelly can’t coach nerves, she admits it,” Horan read aloud to Shelton’s dismay.
“I am never helping you again … ever!” Shelton responded in a clip captured by viewers. “I write something down on the pad and hand it to you in privacy, and you’re like, ‘Oh, and it says …’ What is wrong with you?!”
“I don’t know if in Ireland it’s common practice to be passed a note about somebody and then read the note aloud to the person,” the “God’s Country” singer later told the cameras.
The senior Voice coach’s disownment of Horan puts a temporary pause on the two stars’ self-professed father-son relationship that’s developed over the course of this season, which marks Shelton’s final lap as a coach following nine wins and 23 total seasons. He’s the longest running coach on the four-person panel, while Horan and Chance the Rapper are both Voice newcomers.
Last week, pranking roles were reversed as Shelton was put on the spot by Clarkson, who facilitated a hilarious lie-detector test on the OG Voice coach.
Watch Blake Shelton and Niall Horan’s prank-gone-wrong on Kelly Clarkson below: