Blake Shelton Reveals His Favorite Part of ‘The Voice’ and What He’ll Really Miss
Blake Shelton has served as a coach on The Voice for 12 years, since its April 2011 premiere. Now, the show's mainstay will say goodbye and ride off into the sunset of retirement from the reality series after 23 seasons.
As he looks back at his career, it's not the wins that stick out to Shelton, although those are nice. Instead, it's the legacy he's left in the music industry.
The "Austin" singer opened up about what the show has meant for him while chatting with Nightly News: Kids Edition. He was interviewed by his co-worker Carson Daly's son, Jackson.
"Artists like me who have been doing this for a million years, there's just never really been a path to pass along all the stuff I learned over the years to younger people," Shelton shares. "And now to be able to pass along some things that I've learned along the way — especially mistakes I've made along the way."
"So that's probably been my favorite part about being a coach on here and the reason I would say come try out, you know, give it a shot," he adds.
In addition to Shelton, this season features coaches Kelly Clarkson, Chance the Rapper and Niall Horan. Each brings their own unique experiences and wisdom to their team, which is extremely valuable to any artist who is just starting out — especially teenagers. Contestants on The Voice can be as young as 13, which Shelton believes is a great age to try out.
"I say, 'Come on!'" he says when asked what advice he would give those younger artists. "Because, you know, the chances of making it on this show are slim, but there's no way to audition for this show — and especially make it on the show — without learning a bunch of stuff. That's what I love about it."
Shelton also gave Jackson a tour of the studio and even showed him his father's secret room, where he watches the performances. While exploring the coaches' chairs, the "No Body" artist revealed that each one has seat heaters.
"I never in all my time being on the show never have turned that on," Shelton confesses.