The Voice owes a large chunk of its success to Blake Shelton. Since 2011, fans tuned in to witness the “God’s Country” singer’s down-home charm and hilarious back-and-forth with his fellow coaches.
Viewers were devastated to see Shelton hang up his cowboy hat last year after 23 seasons. Many petitioned the artist to return via X/Twitter. “Come back to the voice you made the program. love Blake,” one fan wrote.
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Blake Shelton Says He Doesn’t Miss The Voice
Unfortunately for diehard fans, Shelton doesn’t seem inclined to return to the hugely popular competition reality show. The 10-time Country Music Association award winner admitted in November 2023 that he should have exited the show sooner.
“To be totally honest about it, I wasn’t even planning on being there that long,” Shelton said on an episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show.
Shelton explained that he initially planned to stay only 20 or 21 seasons. However, spring 2020 was a tumultuous time, and the artist didn’t want to leave the show high and dry.
“So I stayed a little bit longer, but I stayed too long for me to now miss it,” Shelton said.
In fact, not only does it seem like Shelton won’t be returning to The Voice, but he may be planning on creating a music competition show to compete with The Voice, per The US Sun.
[RELATED: Blake Shelton Is Plotting a Music Competition Show to Dethrone ‘The Voice’: Report]
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani Looking Forward to New Horizons
Shelton’s return seems even less likely in the wake of wife Gwen Stefani’s departure from the show. The couple met during filming for The Voice in 2015 and began publicly dating in 2016. By 2020 they were engaged, tying the knot in July 2021.
Shelton left the show in May 2023 hoping to free up more family time. The country superstar is quite serious about his role as stepfather to Stefani’s three children.
“I think the only way for me to really do that right is to step away from being committed to something like The Voice that demands a lot of your time,” Shelton told Access Hollywood in January 2023. “There’s no way around it. If you’re going to do it and do it right, you have to be 150 percent in. And I just feel like those days are behind me for now. I got a more important job.”
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