Blake Shelton Reveals What Would Make Him Return to ‘The Voice’

Blake Shelton served as a coach for 12 seasons of The Voice before calling it quits in 2023, but he would consider returning to the NBC talent show under one specific condition.

The country star spoke to Entertainment Tonight at the grand opening of his new restaurant bar, Ole Red Las Vegas, on Wednesday (April 17), where he was asked about the chances of him coming back to the long-running singing competition series.

“I miss the people. I mean, those people became like family to me, literally from the crew all up to the producers of the show. I was with them more than I was with my family… I miss that,” Shelton said.

Shelton was part of The Voice‘s original coaching line-up alongside Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Cee-Lo Green. While the rest of the coaches swapped and changed over the years, Shelton remained a consistent presence for 23 seasons.

However, while he misses his former co-workers, the Grammy-nominated artist said he doesn’t “miss the job at all.”

“I totally needed a break from that because if I wasn’t into it, then it wasn’t good for whoever was on my team,” he explained. “I don’t want to be someone who’s just going through the motions. Those artists need somebody fighting for them.”

Shelton, who had nine wins over his Voice career, added, “The second I started feeling like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t even remember what season this is anymore. Who are the coaches on this season?’ [I knew that] I needed [to get] away from here.”

Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton on The Voice; Trae Patton/©NBC/courtesy Everett Collection

The “Austin” hitmaker noted that he feels good about his decision to leave. But he did mention there is one thing that would bring him back, and that’s if NBC could gather Levine, Aguilera, and Green for a season of the original coaches.

“If they were ever able to put together the original four coaches again, maybe [I’d return] for one season, a one-off,” he stated. “That would be fun for me… That would be something I would be interested in doing.”

One thing Shelton is grateful for is how The Voice introduced him to his future wife, Gwen Stefani, who joined the show as a coach in Season 7.

“The first season she was on The Voice we met [but] we really didn’t talk that much,” he recalled. “If you would’ve told me the first season that we met that’s what was gonna happen, I would’ve been like, ‘No, we actually don’t even have anything to even talk about. What are you talking about?’ It’s crazy how things work out.”

Shelton and Stefani started dating in 2015 while both were going through divorces. They announced their engagement on October 27, 2020, and got married on July 3, 2021.

“When you find that life partner, that missing piece you didn’t know what was missing… it’s like, ‘Golly, you can go ahead and kill me if this ever goes away or ends or something happens. There’s no going back now,’” Shelton told ET.