Could This Be Will.i.am’s Last Season As Coach On ‘The Voice UK’?
BBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
If you’ve enjoyed watching will.i.am as a coach on The Voice UK for the past seven years, we may have some bad news for you. Word on the street is that the Black Eyed Peas star could be leaving the show after this season.
Express recently reported on the possible departure, saying that bookmakers at the betting organization Coral are offering up 4/5 odds that will.i.am won’t return for next year’s competition. While the show hasn’t officially confirmed anything, a Coral spokesperson told the publication, “It’s narrowly odds on that this is his final season on The Voice.”
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You may be wondering whether to trust this prediction. While we can’t say for certain that he’s leaving, will.i.am has hinted at his departure in the past. In April 2018, he told the Daily Star Sunday that the seventh season could be his last, citing his desire to get back to making music. Here’s what he told the publication:
“Now I’m going to get emotional…I haven’t had time to make music. The last record I did was before I did The Voice … I don’t know if I’ll come back next year. I don’t know…I think I just need a plan, because I’ve been reacting – I haven’t planned. I need to decide what the next 10 years will look like. To do that I have to be a little bit more strategic with my time and I have to have partners…if that’s the cast, is ITV a partner? I don’t know. Because right now I’m just a hired gun.”
He also mentioned that, although he loves the UK, it’s tough to constantly fly to and from the United States. Still, even after voicing these concerns, will.i.am returned for the show’s current eighth season. In October 2018, he and his Black Eyed Peas group mates apl.de.ap and Taboo even released a new album, Masters of the Sun Vol. 1. He recently teased on Twitter that there are more music videos coming from the group this month.
This month https://t.co/T5eHaghOcw
— will.i.am (@iamwill) January 20, 2019
Did he find a way to balance his music career with coaching duties? We’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, here’s another question to ponder: Who will take will.i.am’s place if he decides to call it quits? The same bookmakers say odds are 2/1 it could be longtime American Voice coach Adam Levine. Now the idea of losing his and Blake Shelton’s banter is giving us totally new emotions.
