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Blake Shelton Reveals the Moment in The Voice Season 23 That Made Him Want to Cry
Blake Shelton joked he was "too manly to cry," but said pressing the button for one singer made him choke.
All good things must come to an end, and we're not the only ones getting emotional as Season 23 of The Voice begins to close.
Country music singer Blake Shelton — the last-standing original Coach on the series — is bowing out after more than a decade since The Voice premiered its first season, marking the end of an era.
During a red-carpet interview for his last season’s semi-finals, Shelton admitted to NBC Insider that there was a time the emotions nearly got the best of him, saying it happened during the Blind Auditions.
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“I hit my button for Grace West, and I said out loud [that] I knew my team was full,” said Shelton. “And so, I knew that meant, ‘Oh my god, that’s the last time I’m ever going to push my button in a Blind Audition.’”
Shelton then joked, “I’m too manly to cry.”
West, the country-singing teen sensation, marked Shelton’s last-ever chair turn when she performed Pam Tillis’ “Maybe It Was Memphis.” Freshman Coach Niall Horan also turned his chair when hearing the Michigan-born 19-year-old.
Shelton told the Artist that, like West, he moved to Nashville at age 17 with dreams of becoming a country singer, first landing a job at a publishing company. Shelton then reminded those around him that he had just one spot left to fill on Team Blake.
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“I would be honored if you joined the last Team Blake as the last person that I will ever hit this freakin’ worn-out button for,” Shelton said at the time.
Coach Kelly Clarkson commended Shelton’s attempts to have West join his team, with Coach Chance the Rapper calling it “a strong pitch.”
“It did hit me, and I kind of had to choke it back for a minute,” Shelton continued to NBC Insider. “Because it was like, ‘Oh my god, I never actually thought about that moment.' I just more thought about, ‘This is my last season.’”
Shelton said that from then on, every step throughout The Voice competition, including the Battles and the Knockouts, felt like a “monumental moment.”
“And so every thing is a last,” Shelton continued. “And so I’m trying to take it in and enjoy it and remember all this.”
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Shelton previously announced that Season 23 would be his last, opting to fulfill his position as a stepfather to the children of superstar wife Gwen Stefani, whom Shelton met while working on The Voice.
Stefani, who served as a Coach on The Voice for Seasons 7, 9, 12, 17, 19, and 22, is slated to return as a Coach for Season 24, with current Coach Horan and previous Coach John Legend also returning. This season’s Mega Mentor, Reba McEntire, will take over for Shelton.
Shelton seemed to know what he was doing during his most emotional moments on the show because West, along with Team Blake singer NOIVAS, will go head-to-head in the Live Finals on Tuesday, May 23.
“It’s just, what a gift here on my last season, to have these two different, very powerful artists in their own different way — different from each other —on my last team on The Voice,” Shelton said. “I mean, I couldn’t have written it better.”
Shelton added that having West and NOIVAS make it to the finals was “a great way to go out.”
The Team Blake singers will join Team Kelly’s D. Smooth, Team Chance’s Sorelle, and Team Niall’s Gina Miles as they sing for the win during the Season 23 finale, airing Tuesday, May 23 at 9/8c on NBC and streaming the next day on Peacock.
—Reporting by Tara Bennett
