Blake Shelton Reveals He Almost Left ‘The Voice’ Even Earlier
Art Streiber/NBC Reading Time: 2 minutes
Coach Blake Shelton is preparing to say goodbye to The Voice this season. Last year, the country star announced that he would be leaving the show after 23 seasons. However, Shelton revealed in a new interview with Today that he actually considered leaving a few years ago.
Blake Shelton Almost Left The Voice A Few Years Ago
Shelton recently appeared on the morning show with fellow coaches Kelly Clarkson, Niall Horan, and Chance the Rapper to talk about the upcoming new season of the show. He shared that the Covid-19 pandemic kept him on the show a little longer.
“I think I was close to calling it a day right when Covid hit,” Shelton told Carson Daly, who also hosts The Voice. “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.”
When Daly asked what it would take to get Shelton to stay on the show, the coach joked, “I’d like for Kelly to not be on the show anymore … I just think there’s too much Kelly Clarkson on television in general.”
Shelton got more serious as he spoke about what the show means to him. On a personal level, it introduced him to his wife Gwen Stefani. The show also changed his career, as Shelton admitted, “I’ve actually read people say, ‘The only star of The Voice they ever found was Blake Shelton.'”
SEE ALSO: BLAKE SHELTON PREPARES FOR HIS FINAL SEASON IN NEW ‘THE VOICE’ PROMO
Shelton Wants ‘A Little Bit of Nothing’ After the Show
“When I came on as coach on this show, I mean, everything in my life turned upside down,” Shelton said of his time on The Voice. “In a good way. This has been incredible, but it’s time. It’s time for… not even for what’s next. A little bit of nothing would be nice.”
When Shelton announced that Season 23 of the show would be his last as a coach, he wrote that he had “been wresting with this for a while.” He added that the show “will always feel like home to me.” The veteran coach has won nine times over the years.
Season 23 of The Voice is set to premiere on Monday, March 6, at 8/7c on NBC.
