Blake Shelton has two conditions before returning to The Voice
The country music star might be planning a return to the show if producers fulfill two wishes.
Blake Shelton has reportedly given Gwen Stefani producers two stipulations before possibly signing on to return as a judge of the singing competition show—and one of them has to do with his wife, Gwen.
The country music singer was the only original coach to stay as a judge from the first season until he announced in 2022 that he would be leaving after season 23 and that he wouldn’t ever return.
“To be totally honest about it, I wasn’t even planning on being there that long,” he said on The Jennifer Hudson Show in November 2023 about his departure.
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Blake and Gwen began dating in 2015. ( Image: Evans Vestal Ward/NBC via Getty Images)
He added: “I was planning on wrapping it up around 20 seasons or 21 seasons and then obviously COVID hit and then I didn’t want to walk out on the show in the middle of COVID and them trying to scramble and figure out what to do, so I stayed. I didn’t have anything else to do anyway, so I stayed a little bit longer. But I stayed too long for me to now miss it, I can promise you that.”
However, he might be missing the show now since sources say he is considering going back for more. “There are ways [Blake] could return,” a source told The U.S. Sun. “Blake may have said his time on the show is over, but he has not closed the door for good. He would come back to the show if Gwen was invited too, and then they could enjoy working together again. [Blake] has got to a point in his life where he doesn’t want to be away from Gwen for long periods of time, and of course, he feels that the experience was better with her at his side.”
“He certainly is aware that the fans have engaged the most with the show through social media when Gwen and Blake were together and all through their journey from rival coaches to man and wife. Everyone loves a comeback in these shows and none would be bigger than those guys,” the source continued. “Network execs know that too and will be aware of the value of that partnership returning for viewership and commercial opportunities.”
The Voice season 22 judges ( Image: NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Blake and Gwen met on the set of The Voice when they were both judges and started dating in 2015. They got engaged in 2020 after a five-year relationship and got married in July 2021 in an intimate ceremony at his ranch in Oklahoma.
The Voice premiered on NBC in April 2011, with Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, Adam Levine, and Blake as judges. Aside from reuniting with his bride in the judges’ chairs, Blake reportedly has another idea to boost the show’s ratings. “Blake has also been vocal about his hope to bring back the gang that started the show so well. He feels getting Adam [Levine], CeeLo and Christina would be a cool way to promote the show,” the source added. “Realistically it would likely take a large amount of money to get them all back, and that comes at a time when keeping costs down is a priority.”
The Voice’s Season 22 judges ( Image: Trae Patton/NBC via Getty Images)
“However, if the network could bring in major sponsor and endorsement deals, that could help make the [original] team reuniting a possibility,” the source added.
Season 25 features Dan + Shay as the competition show’s first duo to share a judges chair. They will join returning judges Gwen, John Legend, and Chance the Rapper.
