Blake Shelton became the final member of The Voice’s inaugural coaching panel to step away from the show earlier this year, hanging up his hat after an impressive 12 years, 23 seasons and nine victories. Then, in a somewhat strange twist, NBC announced that his wife Gwen Stefani would be amongst the coaches in the season immediately following. The cowboy opened up a little about the dynamics of their marriage with an amusing behind-the-scenes story about how that happened.
The Voice’s post-Blake Shelton era is well under way, with Reba McEntire stepping in as the show’s country music icon alongside John Legend, Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani. The “Come Back as a Country Boy” singer gave some insight during a Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview into the situation, which was especially strange since spending more time with his family was one of the reasons he gave for leaving. In Shelton’s words:
I think I’d actually put it out there to the press, too, because everybody wants to know, like, ‘Why are you quitting?’ you know, ‘Why are you walking away from the show?’ And it’s like, ‘Well, for the family. For more family time.’ 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.
All of this was clearly said in jest, which I feel needs to be specified, since the singer’s dry sense of humor might not translate in writing the way he intended it, and I’m sure Blake Shelton would love to keep any more rumors of marital drama with Gwen Stefani from spreading.
It did seem funny, though, and a little strange that a big motivation for Blake Shelton’s exit from The Voice was to spend more time with his family, only to have Gwen Stefani rejoin the show immediately after. One has to assume, however, that the country singer would prefer to spend quality time with his wife outside of work and away from NBC’s cameras. He’s also been open about how seriously he takes being a stepdad to Stefani’s three sons.
In fact, it seems Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani’s relationship doesn’t include too much talk about their business decisions at all, as the country music star continued:
If it shows you anything, we’re completely not involved in each other’s decision making when it comes to our careers. She’s Gwen Stefani, and that’s its own machine, you know what I’m saying? So it’s like, ‘Oh wait, you’re going back? Because I just quit. I’ll catch you next spring.’
Blake Shelton may not physically be on The Voice anymore, but Gwen Stefani is making sure he’s not forgotten. In fact not an episode this season has gone by without a mention of him from her or one of the other mentors. Stefani admitted it’s “definitely weird” to be there without her husband, and said it’s “frustrating” Shelton is gone because we all loved watching him.
All is not lost, though, because we’ll actually get to see Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani face off on TV again on Barmageddon’s second season. The rowdy celebrity game show — which the cowboy stars in with The Voice host Carson Daly — returns to USA Network at 11 p.m. ET Monday, November 13. Check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what other premieres are coming soon.
