BLAKE Shelton has revealed he may return to The Voice while unexpectedly comparing himself to Pat Sajak for the reason he took a breather.
In 2023, the country star abruptly left the singing competition, and fans have held out hope ever since that he’ll return.
Blake, 47, was a mainstay on The Voice since its first season in 2011.
He coached promising artists on Team Blake for 23 seasons or 12 consecutive years.
Blake still holds the record for most wins by a coach, having won nine different seasons.
His wife, Gwen Stefani, 54, exited as a coach soon after in 2024 before its now-airing 25th season.
‘WHO KNOWS?’
Blake told Extra TV in a video interview on Sunday that he’s not planning an official return but he didn’t rule anything out.
“I don’t ever plan on working at The Voice again,” he said.
He added, “Who knows? That’s me sitting here as I say that right now.”
“I can’t say I wouldn’t come by for a surprise appearance.”
“That show is the greatest and most important thing I’ve ever been a part of in my career. It changed my life.”
“When I left, I feel like I really left; we all love each other,” he continued – implying there are no hard feelings.
‘HOW I WAS STARTING TO FEEL’
Blake explained that he left because of the burden that nonstop filming took on him.
He compared his tiresome tenure to Wheel of Fortune’s host Pat, 77.
Pat is leaving his iconic game show behind this spring after an astounding 41 straight years.
“I’ve done it for 23 seasons without missing a single season, you know?” Blake said.
“I know what you feel like, Pat Sajak!” he exclaimed.
“Because that’s kind of how I was starting to feel.”
“If you’re on back-to-back seasons, there’s really no time for any other thing, you know?
“If you didn’t want to have a family and a life that much you could do it, but something has to give. It was time for The Voice to be thing that gives.”
Pat announced in 2023 that he’d be retiring from Wheel at the end of the now-airing Season 41, he’s missed only one episode due to a scary intestine surgery in 2019
Pat’s last episode will air on June 7, 2024, and he has already wrapped up filming as of April 5, 2024.
Pat will be replaced by Ryan Seacrest, who will co-host with Vanna White, 66, starting this fall.
BLAKE WOULD RETURN IF…
Meanwhile, in an interview on Thursday, Blake said there was one condition in which he would definitely return to the big red chair.
He told Entertainment Tonight, “If they were ever able to put together the original four coaches again, maybe [I’d return] for one season, a one-off.”
“That would be fun for me… That would be something I would be interested in doing.”
When the show kicked off, The Voice coaches included Blake, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Cee-Lo Green.
After announcing his exit in 2023, Black admitted that he’d been wanting to leave for a while.
“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,” he said, leaving the show when Gwen was still a coach.
“I think I was close to calling it a day right when COVID hit. And then because of COVID, I didn’t want to walk away from the show, and leave everybody in a bind,” he also admitted on Today.
Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine left the show after 16 seasons, while Aguilera and Green’s tenures were shorter.
MEETING GWEN
Although things seemingly got tough for Blake toward his exit, he found love along the way.
The Voice connected him with his now wife, Gwen, 54.
He met her when she joined the series as a coach in Season 7.
They began dating in 2015, while they were both going through divorces, were engaged in 2020, and wed in 2021.
“The first season she was on The Voice we met [but] we really didn’t talk that much,” he recalled to Entertainment Tonight.
He continued, “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.”
The 25th season of The Voice is currently airing, with coaches Reba McEntire, John Legend, Chance the Rapper and Dan + Shay.
