Throughout the past 16 seasons of The Voice, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine have had their share of on-screen spats and laughs. But through it all, the two have also been the first to admit that real love and friendship lies under all of that television banter.

So it's no surprise that Shelton still sounds a little stung about Levine’s departure from the singing competition show.

"I didn’t expect it,” Shelton says in a recent interview with Extra. “I didn’t expect Adam to pull the trigger like he did. We all knew he was getting to the point. It was 16 seasons he had been doing the show, and it’s hard to keep him focused on anything. He was ready to move on."

Luckily, Shelton says the fact that his girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, will be coming back to the NBC show for Season 17 made things a bit easier to handle from an emotional standpoint.

See the Highlights From Blake and Adam's Bromance

"(It) softened the blow for me,” says Shelton, whose current single, “God’s Country," gave him a No. 1 hit. "I was pretty upset that Adam was gone."

Shelton doubts that Stefani will be sitting in the big red chair next to him when they return to The Voice set, saying that he has "a feeling they will keep us separate." He’s also bummed that he won’t have anyone to argue with anymore.

"I can’t go head-to-head with Gwen like that," says Shelton, who also recently made news that he will perform the new duet “Dive Bar’ alongside country powerhouse Garth Brooks at a sold-out show in Idaho on July 19 as part of Brook’s Stadium Tour.

Shelton recently wrapped his own 2019 Friends and Heroes Tour, but there are still Blake Shelton tickets available for shows that he's got booked for 2019.

Would Jimmie Allen Get You To Turn Your Chair Around? Watch: 

Country's 10 Most Successful The Voice Contestants Yet:

More From Taste of Country