Why This Moment on The Voice Made Blake Shelton 'Jealous' of Niall Horan

Niall Horan is making history on The Voice!

In an interview with NBC's Mark Barger, the newbie Coach gave some cool details about a little trick he pulled during the Season 23 Blind Auditions, and one other Coach wasn’t particularly happy about it.

“We were all privately given one little stunt that we could use in the Blind Auditions. And my one was that I was able to, once they'd all done their pitches, I was able to have some alone time with the Contestant. And I was able to hit the button on everyone's chair, and they would spin back around. And I was able to just have my alone time. And yeah, it was a lot of fun,” Horan said. “None of them expected it, and it had never been seen on the show before. Even Blake [Shelton] was like, ‘How did you manage to do that?’ He was jealous. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. That was a great moment." 

Don't be fooled, though: Horan and Shelton get along great behind the scenes. “Me and the cowboy became good friends very quick. We realized we're very similar people. For the good and the bad. He's, he's so funny. Like, from the minute we met him,” Horan said.

“All the Coaches kind of got together the night before the first-ever Audition," he added. "And, you know, we had some food and a couple of drinks. And that was the moment to our initiation. Just from that minute, from that first minute, I was like, 'Man, he's my guy.' We just had a laugh. [Blake's] always annoying everyone. And I appreciate it so much." 

However, their friendship doesn’t mean that Horan is going to let Shelton win his last season easily. “Basically what I don't want to happen is the sympathy vote for Shelton. You know, he's on his way out," he says. "...None of this crap. Just vote team Niall, ‘cause they’re the best." 

See Niall Horan and Blake Shelton go head to head on The Voice on NBC Mondays at 8/7c, Tuesdays at 9/8c and the next day on Peacock. 

Niall Horan Surprises Blake Shelton with a Gift | The Voice | NBC