With his Season 22 win, Blake Shelton cemented his status as The Voice's most decorated coach. Country singer Bryce Leatherwood took the gold, marking Team Blake's unprecedented ninth win. But the triumph wasn't all ra-ra and victory laps for Shelton, who's leaving the NBC show after the upcoming Season 23.
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The bittersweet finale was a highly personal moment for Shelton on another front: Season 22 was the last time he and wife Gwen Stefani would coach together on The Voice, and it was the first time they appeared together on the show as a married couple. The pair met on the reality competition series back in 2014 and tied the knot in 2021. Stefani will not be returning for Shelton's last go-around next season.
Shelton revealed that Stefani had a deeply emotional experience after the finale aired. "I walked over to Gwen's chair after the cameras went off and she's over there literally sobbing," he told Entertainment Tonight. "She was like, 'This is our last time that we're going to do this together.'"
For what it's worth, Shelton thinks Stefani will return to the red coach's chair at some point, even if it's without him. "It will be the last time she and I do this together, and it is crazy to think of how the show changed my life," he said. "I was so wrapped up in this that I didn't even think about that, and now you're trying to make me emotional!"
There is a ray of sunshine in all this, though. Shelton hasn't completely forsaken The Voice, adding that he'd gladly return to the show if he could be a celebrity mentor for Team Gwen. (Shelton is ever the supportive hubby.)
"Oh my god, I'd be honored to be Gwen's mentor," he said. "Whatever she tells me to do, I'm gonna do."
Let's hope Blake Shelton is a man of his word.
The Voice Season 23 premieres March 6 on NBC.
