The Voice has become a leader in talent competition shows since its debut on NBC in 2011, churning out countless talented artists and providing endless entertainment for viewers with its charismatic coaches. After country singer Blake Shelton, a longtime fixture on the show, announced his departure after 23 seasons, host Carson Daly is now the show's only constant.
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Daly has been the main host of The Voice since its inception in 2011. In the first season, he was joined by Alison Haislip, who served as the "backstage, online and social media correspondent," and that role was soon taken over by Christina Milian. Since Season 5, however, Daly was been the sole host of the show, and he has made strong connections with the contestants, their families and fans during this time.
Being hired as the host of a national show such as The Voice is a serious accomplishment for someone in the broadcasting industry, but how did Daly get to this point? He's no stranger to the camera, and some may remember him from a memorable show from the early 2000s.
Carson Daly's Road to The Voice
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Looking back at Daly's history, it seems broadcasting is in his blood. He was born in Santa Monica, Calif., and his mom, Pattie Daly Caruso, worked as a TV personality in Coachella Valley. Although he eventually went into the TV world, broadcasting wasn't his first career choice. As an avid golfer in his teens, Daly attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on a golf scholarship. It was his dream to pursue a career as a professional golfer, and he even dropped out of college to make this happen. One way or another, though, he caught the radio bug, and by the '90s he was pursuing this career with an internship with Jimmy Kimmel and jobs at KOME (San Jose) and KROQ (LA). His full-time radio slot on KROQ helped him move up the radio ranks. Through that role, he helped push ska-punk to the mainstream, which helped the music career of future The Voice colleague and No Doubt vocalist Gwen Stefani. He further impacted pop music — and pop culture — after he was hired to be a video jockey on MTV.
In the early 2000s, Daly made a name for himself as the host of the MTV show Total Request Live, in which he did a video countdown and interviewed artists. This show featured many now-iconic moments, such as the two-hour Backstreet Boys special and the debut performance from Beyoncé and Jay-Z. He soon earned his own show, Last Call with Carson Daly, and he began hosting New Year's Eve with Carson Daly on NBC in 2003.
His Experience on The Voice
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Daly's extensive radio and television experience made him a natural choice for host of The Voice. But the California native wasn't immediately sold on the idea of hosting a singing reality show — that is, however, until he watched an episode of the Dutch version of the show.
"It was just exciting, like, these coaches had no idea who he was and then we heard his story, but they had already been a fan of his because of just his voice," Daly said, according to Today. "So I immediately was interested in the show. And then I just simply asked who's producing it, because if you own a restaurant, well, who's your chef? You know, you need a good chef, and they said Mark Burnett, who makes cinematic television. I was like, 'Forget it, I'm in.' So I was the first person they hired."
In addition to hosting The Voice for the past 12 years, Daly has also gone on to become a co-host on Today. The on-air personality says he has made many memories on The Voice set, and he has also formed a close relationship with Shelton. Daly served as the officiant at Shelton's wedding to Stefani, and he says the two even vacation together with their families.
"He's become one of the closest people in my life, to be honest with you," Daly said. "We're very close, which is ironic because I — obviously, you know, I'm a producer on the show, I'm involved in recruiting coaches. I've talked some people into doing the show. And he was the person I knew the least. And so it's just ironic that 10 years later, he's the one that I'm definitely closest with. Our families vacation together at this point, and so I'm very grateful. Aside from what the show, from an employment standpoint, has done for me and my family, you know, my friendship with Blake is probably the next best thing I've yielded by being on the show."
Carson Daly's Family Life
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While building his incredibly successful career in live television, Daly has also been building his family. In 2013, he became engaged to food blogger Siri Pinter, whom he met on Last Call with Carson Daly. They were married that same year. Daly previously dated fellow early-aughts pop culture staple Jennifer Love Hewitt.
The couple now have four children: Jackson, Etta, London and Goldie. Daly's parenthood has run almost concurrently with his gig on The Voice, and he says he holds both important jobs close to his heart.
"When I think of The Voice turning 10, it's reflective of sort of my parenting, you know, my life as a father," he shared in 2021. "The greatest job I have is being a father and The Voice is probably second, so I'm nostalgic about it."
Season 24 of The Voice is airing now on NBC.
