Blake Shelton Pokes Fun at Wife Gwen Stefani for Returning to ‘The Voice’ After His Exit: “Money Talks”
Trae Patton/NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
Blake Shelton primarily left The Voice to spend more time with family, but it seems his loving wife Gwen Stefani didn’t get the memo. Recently, the country crooner hilariously trolled Stefani for coming back to the NBC reality competition show in season 24.
Blake Shelton Jokes About Gwen Stefani’s Comeback on The Voice Amid His Retirement
In his latest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Shelton talked his fateful departure from The Voice after 12 years. The singer hilariously pointed out the mismatch between his decision and his wife’s choice to return.
“Everybody wants to know, like, why are you quitting? Why are you walking away from the show? And it’s like, well, for the family, you know, for more family time,” he said. “And then the very next announcement was Gwen’s coming back. So maybe she doesn’t want too much family time. I don’t know. Money talks.”
Shelton later made sense of their dynamics, noting that they make independent decisions as artists. According to the country star, they’re “completely not involved” in each other’s decision-making process when it comes to their careers.
“She’s Gwen Stefani and that’s its own machine, you know what I’m saying? And so it’s like, ‘Oh wait, oh you’re going back? Because I just quit. So I’ll catch you next spring,'” he said.
Shelton chatted with Kimmel to promote the upcoming second season of Barmageddon, a game show he co-created with Carson Daly. Returning to USA network next week, the singer shared that Stefani will be appearing on the show on November 20 to compete against him.
“The funny thing about Gwen is, in the entire amount of time that I’ve known her now, I’ve never known her, even on The Voice, to be competitive,” he said. “She’s more of this supportive person with her contestants. I’ve never seen her as super competitive, until she plays against me on Barmageddon.”
Shelton and Stefani first met as friend while serving as coaches on The Voice in 2014. Over time, romance grew between the two, leading to their marriage in July 2021.
He Recalls Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Pep Talk” During His First CMA Awards
In 2001, Shelton made his debut appearance on television when he performed his first ever CMA Awards performance. At the time, his first single “Austin” had become a country radio hit.
During the interview, the country singer recalled having to do “commercial bumper moments.” As he was waiting for his turn, Billy Ray Cyrus’ walked off the stage and approached him.
“He said, ‘You alright?’ I go, ‘Man, I’m scared to death. I’m scared to death right now to walk out there,'” he said. “And he’s like, ‘What do you mean?’ And I go, ‘I’ve just never been on TV and I gotta sing.’ And he goes, ‘Hey, man, listen. Even if you do great, this is the music industry. Most of those people are gonna make fun of you and roll their eyes anyway, man. This is the music industry! You need to toughen up a little bit. Man, people make fun of you.'”
Revisiting the “pep talk,” Shelton stated that Cyrus “probably doesn’t remember” what he said. Nonetheless, he mentioned how he remembered himself agreeing to what the “Achy Breaky Heart” hitmaker told him.
