The first day on set for coaches on The Voice was a lively one -- and Niall Horan had a few words for Blake Shelton after Gwen Stefani called his accent "cute."
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The Voice just released a sneak peek at the upcoming season 24 on YouTube that showed Horan, John Legend, Stefani, and new coach Reba McEntire settling in for the first day of auditions.
As the judges mingle behind the scenes, Horan says that he's "looking forward to a little bit of a battle with you guys" during the show, which pits the musical icons against one another in playful competition as they mentor undiscovered talent.
"You say, 'bah-el,'" McEntire replies, warping her Southern drawl into her best impression of the Irish singer-songwriter's accent.
"I'm not gonna lie, but that accent is cute," Stefani says with a smile.
"It is so cute," McEntire agrees.
"Y'hear that, Shelton?" Horan calls out jokingly to Stefani's husband, Blake Shelton, who didn't appear to be on set. Shelton was a coach on The Voice from the show's first season in 2011 until season 23, which aired earlier this year. The two met while taping season 7 of The Voice in 2014 and have been married since 2021.
Newbie McEntire shared how difficult it was to be a coach on the show. The coaches' chairs are turned away from the auditioning performers, forcing them to judge contestants on their voices alone.
"The blind auditions were so much harder than I thought they were going to be," she says. "They block you and it's just so devious -- but a lot of fun, too."
The four coaches clearly aren't afraid to give each other a bit of guff, and they share an easy chemistry. Playful jabs abound in the first-look trailer.
"Everybody's just as sweet and kind offstage as they can be," McEntire tells the audience.
She adds slyly: "When they come onstage, though, they kind of change their personalities."
The Voice returns with all of its mind-blowing singing talent and lighthearted ribbing on Monday, September 25 at 8/7c on NBC. It's also streaming on Peacock.
