Blake Shelton Explains Why He’s Not Performing on ‘The Voice’ This Season
Blake Shelton is currently in his 23rd and final season as a coach on The Voice, and he's taking every opportunity to soak it all in — even if that means not getting onstage himself.
Speaking to E! News, Shelton explains his decision to not perform on the show this season, despite the fact that he has done so many times prior.
"This'll be the first season that I've ever not performed on the show," the singer reflects.
"I just kinda wanna sit back and watch it all happen, and enjoy it," he continues.
Shelton is adopting that mindset on advice from his wife, pop superstar Gwen Stefani, who is also a frequent The Voice coach and is one of the four coaches on deck for Season 24.
"I've never really been good at, like, taking in the moment while it's happening," Shelton says. "And so I'm trying to do that. Gwen and I talk about that a lot. She's like, 'Just try to take it in.' And we both struggle with that, whenever something cool is happening."
Of course, Shelton and Stefani have a special connection to The Voice, since they first met on set during a season when both were coaches. Voice host Carson Daly even officiated their wedding ceremony when the pair married on Shelton's Oklahoma property in July 2020.
"I met my wife while I was here, so I would say that's easily been the best thing," Shelton replies when asked about the highlights of his long tenure on The Voice. "That's been the best thing about my entire career journey, really, you know? Who would have ever ... no one could have ever predicted that."
Aside from that, Shelton says his time on the show has taught him more about music than he ever imagined he'd know.
"Just when you think you know it all, you learn when you work on this show that there's just so much cool music out there. New music, old music, different artists, different genres," he relates.
"I came into this show as a coach thinking that I knew a lot, and I did know a lot of country music, but I didn't know crap about anything else," Shelton concludes. "It's just been fun to be exposed to all kinds of different music."
As of Wednesday (May 17), five artists remain in the running on Season 23 of The Voice. The season finale will air on Tuesday (May 23) at 9PM ET on NBC.