Blake Shelton is opening up about life after The Voice.
Shelton, 47, confessed during the Friday, November 17, episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show that he’s enjoying his time off since leaving the reality singing competition earlier this year.
When asked whether he missed his coaching gig, Shelton replied, “Not yet,” adding, “I mean, I did that show for 23 seasons.”
The country singer, who joined The Voice when it premiered in 2011, also admitted that he had wanted to step away earlier, but the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted his plans.
“To be totally honest about it, I wasn’t even planning on being there that long,” he said. “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.”
Shelton revealed he received a major keepsake to commemorate his time on The Voice — the signature red chair.
“I got my chair,” he said. “It was the one thing I wanted — besides a bunch of money — I wanted to take home from The Voice, so they did, they sent it to Oklahoma.”
Jokes aside, Shelton acknowledged that The Voice changed his life in “many ways,” the most impactful being his relationship with now-wife Gwen Stefani, whom he met while filming the show in 2014.
“It all goes back to The Voice,” Shelton said of his life with Stefani, 54, who returned as a coach for the 24th season, airing now. “The Voice, it connected everything. I was having a country music career, but then they asked me to be on The Voice and it literally changed my life in so many ways. I mean, look at the family right there. It’s like all of the sudden, I’m The Brady Bunch.”
When Shelton and Stefani tied the knot in 2021, he became stepfather to her and ex-husband Gavin Rossdale’s three sons, Kingston, 17, Zuma, 15, and Apollo, 10. His time away from The Voice has allowed for more bonding with the kids.
“It’s been such a relief to have more flexibility with his schedule,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in September. “Seeing Blake ultra-relaxed and in family mode is so endearing to Gwen and reminds her what a catch he is.”
