Blake Shelton Lastly Congratulates Niall Horan on Voice Win

Blake—the most winning coach in Voice history with nine titles under his belt—announced last October that season 23 would be his last after appearing on every season for the past 12 years. But his decision to exit the singing competition wasn’t a rash one.

“I think I was close to calling it a day right when COVID hit,” Blake explained during a February Today interview. “And then, because of COVID, I didn’t want to walk away from the show and leave everybody in a bind. I mean, this show changed my life. I’ll stay here until the world kind of gets back to normal again.”

The “God’s Country” artist, who met wife Gwen Stefani on the show, also acknowledged how the series has changed his life.