Blake Shelton’s departure from “The Voice” has saddened longtime fans of the reality singing competition due to an expected shift in show dynamics once he departs.
When “The Voice” first aired in 2011, Shelton was one of the four original coaches. Shelton, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Cee Lo Green founded what is now the most popular music reality singing competition on television.
Shelton’s banter with Levine, Kelly Clarkson, and even her wife, Gwen Stefani, and the new judges has become a staple of American television in recent years.
Shelton is already preparing for her final season, Season 23, by telling everyone that her dear friend and fellow coach, Kelly Clarkson, got him fired from “The Voice.”
In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the “Nobody But You” singer jokingly revealed a “scathing” revelation about his job and boss.
Shelton revealed:
“Kelly [Clarkson] finally got me fired. I wanted to announce that here. NBC stands for Nothing But Clarkson!”
Clarkson, returning to “The Voice” Season 23 as a coach on Shelton’s last season coaching, has her talk show on NBC, the same network where “The Voice” is broadcasted.
“The Kelly Clarkson Show” has been one of the network’s most popular shows, winning a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host three years since 2020 and the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show since 2021.
Kidding aside, Kimmel spoke candidly on The Today Show with “The Voice” host Carson Daly about what he considered the low point of his “The Voice” tenure.
He admitted:
“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. I mean, this show changed my life. I’ll stay here until the world kind of gets back to normal again.”
This season, Shelton will sit in his rotating chair for the final time with returning judge Kelly Clarkson. Former One Direction member Niall Horan and hip-hop megastar Chance The Rapper will also join as new judges.
Reba McEntire, a country music legend, will join the cast as a mega mentor for the contestants.