The Voice is close to wrapping its third season since Blake Shelton stepped away, with Season 26 in the midst of the Playoffs on the 2024 TV schedule. The cowboy practically became synonymous with NBC’s singing competition for the 12 years he served as a coach, and the opposite was true as well, with Shelton sometimes being known more as a coach on The Voice than a country music superstar. Now that he’s got some distance from the show, he’s looking back at how the experience has made him mindful about future projects.
Blake Shelton has had more time on his hands since The Voice bid him farewell in the Season 23 finale, being at home with wife Gwen Stefani and her three sons. He’s also hit the road, collaborated with Post Malone and continued Barmageddon with The Voice host Carson Daly. He’s not just saying yes to everything, though, as Shelton told People:
The last couple of years, especially since I’ve retired from The Voice, I’ve just kind of been trying to be very mindful of the next thing that I do, be thoughtful about it and be sure that I’m not just doing things because I’m on the hamster wheel anymore. It happens, and before you know it, you go, ‘My God, where have the last 10 years gone?’
Time sure flies when you’re having fun! And to be sure, Blake Shelton had a blast on The Voice. He formed great friendships with people like Carson Daly, who would go on to officiate his wedding to Gwen Stefani — who he might not have ever met if not for the show. The country music singer playfully feuded with Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine, and he bonded with Niall Horan on a father/son level.
The show also introduced him to a new audience who hadn’t heard him on country music radio. Blake Shelton called The Voice “the biggest, most important career move of my life,” and he remains thankful to everyone there for where he is today. However, it doesn’t sound like he misses it. He continued:
I really, and I mean really indulged in not being on a television show anymore [the past couple of years]. It’s just been great for me to get back in the mode of, ‘Hey, I’m a country singer first.’ That’s what I left Ada, Oklahoma when I was a teenager to go be. I never want to get that far away from what I feel like I meant to do ever again.
That’s not to say he can’t combine the two things. Blake Shelton has signed on for another singing competition, partnering with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan for THE ROAD on CBS. The series will see the country music singer hitting the road, with competitors serving as his opening acts in hopes of connecting with the locals and maintaining a spot on his tour.
Blake Shelton may not be returning to The Voice, but we are getting one OG coach back. When Season 27 premieres on the 2025 TV schedule, Adam Levine will sit alongside John Legend, Michael Bublé and newcomer Kelsea Ballerini, so I’m sure there are plenty of wild moments ahead.
For now, though, you can catch the rest of Season 26 at 8 p.m. ET Mondays and 9 p.m. ET Tuesdays on NBC or streaming the next day with a Peacock subscription.