Blake Shelton's The Voice Replacement Already Has Ties To The Show

In October 2022, Blake Shelton announced he was leaving "The Voice" after 12 years as one of the show's regular coaches. "I've been wrestling with this for a while and I've decided that it's time for me to step away from 'The Voice' after next season. This show has changed my life in every way for the better and it will always feel like home to me," he wrote on Instagram. Shelton thanked everyone on the show, including Carson Daly and his wife, Gwen Stefani, as well as fans of "The Voice" and told them, "It would not happen without you!"

Since his announcement, there has been much speculation about who would possibly replace the country singer. Fellow coach John Legend told Extra, "I could see, like, Carrie [Underwood] doing it. She's in the NBC family ... she sings on our Sunday night broadcast every Sunday — she could be good!" Legend's guess was a good one, but it turns out another country singer has taken Shelton's red chair for the next season of "The Voice."

It's official: Reba McEntire will replace Blake Shelton as coach for "The Voice" Season 24. The country star made the big announcement by sharing a clip of her name lighting up the back of the infamous red chair, tweeting, "There's a new Coach in town! See you all this Fall! #TheVoice." McEntire is currently the mega mentor for Season 23, which premiered on March 6. She also worked with Team Blake in 2011 as Shelton's Battle Advisor. "This is the raddest mega mentor we've ever had. So I love working with Reba. I love doing it in this capacity because she's helped me tons musically as an artist. So it's cool to watch her be able to do that for other people as well," coach Kelly Clarkson said of her former mother-in-law (via Music Mayhem). On working with Shelton, McEntire stated, "Blake and I have been friends for a long time and every time we get back together it's just like we haven't been apart."

After Shelton announced his exit, McEntire revealed to Entertainment Tonight that she had turned down "The Voice" before the first season and the coach role was given to him. "Who could fill Blake's shoes? ...To fill Blake's chair? Wow. That's gonna be tough. He did a great job and kudos to him." McEntire has big shoes to fill, indeed, but we can't wait to see her make her own mark on "The Voice."