Entering his 23rd and final season on “The Voice,” coach Blake Shelton says it’s time to do nothing.
“It’s been unbelievable, but, you know, it’s time,” he said this week on “Today,” where he appeared with the other three coaches of “The Voice” for a joint conversation. “Time is not even what’s next. A little bit of nothing would be nice.”
Kelly Clarkson, rapper Chance and Niall Horan joined Shelton for an interview with The Voice host Carson Daly, who does the NBC morning show in addition to presenting the singing competition. Chance and Horan are new this season.
“I mean, when I became a coach on this show, everything in my life turned upside down. And in a good way, you know?” Shelton said, referring to early 2011, shortly after he was invited to join the Grand Ole Opry and right after he married Miranda Lambert, his second wife.
The coaching staff at the time included him, Adam Levine, CeeLo Green and Christina Aguilera, a roster that would stand for three seasons before the doors began to revolve on a total of 18 full-time and two part-time coaches. Since then, the presence of Shelton, 46, has become the only constant part of the show.
Levine, the second-longest-tenured coach, was vacated after 16 seasons. Clarkson had the third-most appearances, spending seven seasons as a coach after appearing in seasons 2 and 13 as a part-time adviser.
Shelton and Lambert divorced in July 2015, when The Voice was between seasons 8 and 9. Season 9 was Gwen Stefani’s second as a coach, and in August 2015 she announced her divorce from singer Gavin Rossdale.
Stefani and Shelton, who didn’t know each other before meeting on the show in 2014, started spreading rumors around Halloween 2015. Five years after that, they got engaged and married in July 2021.
“I met my wife on this show,” Shelton Daly said Monday. “It changed my life in every possible way, from a personal perspective.”
Shelton also worked on TV for a few years longer than planned, and he said he was “close to calling it the day that COVID started,” right after Season 18 aired in early 2020.
“I didn’t want to walk away from the show and leave everyone stranded” during the pandemic, he said. “I mean, this show changed my life. I will stay here until the world returns to normal.”
And as Shelton returns for the show’s 23rd season, which began Monday and continues Tuesday night on NBC, “normal” appears to be back: California’s pandemic-related state of emergency officially ended Tuesday.
It’s almost time to do nothing — right after Shelton competes with Clarkson, Chance and Horan for his 10th win as a coach.
