The Voice Season 29 coaches Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine, and John Legend share their thoughts on Blake Shelton’s absence ahead of the new season.

How Blake Shelton’s Absence Shook Up The Voice Season 29: “We All Had a Chance…”

The Battle of Champions Coaches opened up about the “absence of the cowboy” ahead of The Voice Season 29.

As red chair icons Kelly Clarkson, Adam Levine, and John Legend return to The Voice for an epic Battle of Champions showdown, they can’t help but notice the difference without a certain O.G. Coach in the mix, Blake Shelton.

From a new voting system to the new rules implemented this season, The Voice: Battle of Champions promises plenty of twists and turns, and the Coaches are bringing their A-game. We don’t have a single red chair rookie in the mix; all three veterans have won previous seasons of The Voice, which ups the stakes for these Coaches to really deliver as they form winner-worthy teams. During a press junket ahead of Season 29’s epic showdown, the Coaches of The Voice opened up about how they couldn’t be more thrilled to be back in the red chair duking it out for a winner-worthy team.

Aside from the many rule remixes coming in The Voice Season 29, the Coaches couldn’t help but feel a difference during the Blind Auditions as they turned their chairs for country Artists.

The Season 29 Voice Coaches can sense a shift without Blake Shelton

Blake Shelton and John Legend in The Voice Live Season 22 Episode 16.

Photo: Trae Patton/NBC

Gone are the days of Shelton snagging all of the best country stars, a development that the Season 29 panel appreciated after years of attempting to block Shelton from collecting them all like infinity stones. Clarkson was keen to reveal that the Season 29 Blind Auditions were especially difficult, jam-packed with shocking moments, like when a Coach sang with an Artist only for them to join a different team. But Levine was happy to report that while forming Team Adam, Team Kelly, and Team Legend, all three managed to get an even distribution of musical styles.

“It was even, which it usually is not,” Clarkson agreed before adding, “And we all had a chance at country.”

“We did,” Levine agreed as the Coaches realized that they were able to get those country frontrunners because they didn’t have a strategic CMA-winning mastermind as their competition. Shelton always delivered a great pitch, but now it’s time for Clarkson, Levine, and Legend to join the rodeo.

“Hi, Blake!” Clarkson laughed, staring directly at the camera as if it was Shelton himself.

“Hi, Blake! You’re stupid!” Levine said with a mocking country twang. “Hey, stupid Blake!”

Clarkson and Legend laughed at Levine’s relentless rivalry with Shelton, which continues years after Shelton left the show in 2023.

“In the absence of the cowboy, it made it so the country [Artists] were more evenly distributed,” Legend explained.

The Voice Season 29 Coaches love the new three-chair “flow”

John Legend, Kelly Clarkson, and Adam Levine appear on The Voice Season 29 Episode 1.

Photo: Trae Patton/NBC

The Coaches then started exploring the shift from four Coaches to three for the Battle of Champions. Considering Levine has been on the Coaches panel the most of the trio, he is enjoying the red chair remix.

“I love it, I love it so much. There’s not a fourth person all the way down there,” Levine said, adding that the new Coaches set-up made it easier for the Coaches to bicker and banter this season. Plus, these red chair icons have known each other for years, so they are tasked with getting extra creative in pitching to recruit promising Artists.

“I think the rapport is better because we all know each other obviously, so that helps, but the flow of everything is so much easier,” Levine said. “It feels like less of an assembly line, [and more] kind of hanging out on weird chairs.”

Legend added that, unlike in previous seasons, where there is usually a red chair rookie on the panel, Battle of Champions is comprised of Coaches who have all taken home victories, making the stakes even higher. “We’re so comfortable with each other, and the whole vibe has been just super comfortable the whole time.”

“Everybody’s super good, everybody’s really good at coaching, good at pitching, good at convincing people to come to their team,” Legend promised. “Every aspect of the show, the level of competition is elevated.”

Don’t miss The Voice: Battle of Champions premiere with a two-hour episode on Monday, February 23 at 9/8c on NBC, or stream episodes the next day on Peacock. New episodes of The Voice will air weekly at 9 p.m. ET on Mondays.