Fans of The Voice, heads up! The red chairs are going to look a lot different when Season 25 returns in February 2024. Why did Gwen Stefani leave The Voice? Here’s everything we know about Stefani’s exit from the singing show.
The Voice is NBC’s reality TV singing competition where four celebrity coaches form teams of contestants who compete against each other until there’s one winner. Part of The Voice franchise, the show premiered in April 2011 and aims to find unsighted singing talent. Winners receive $100,000 and a record deal with University Music Group.
The singing show recently wrapped up its 24th season in December 2023, and Niall Horan’s contestant, Michael Huntley, was named the winner. Reba McEntire, Niall Horan, Gwen Stefani, and John Legend were coaches in the competition, but the panel will undergo another significant switch-up next season.
First, NBC announced in June 2023 that country duo Dan + Shay will be the first-ever coaching duo in Season 25 (they previously served as battle advisors to Shelton during Season 20 in 2023). Second, Chance the Rapper, who took a break in Season 24, will also return as a coach in Season 25 alongside John Legend and Rebca McEntire.
The 25th season will also mark the second season since Blake Shelton left The Voice last spring. Now joining him is his wife, Gwen Stefani, who also won’t return to the iconic red chairs in 2024. Why did Gwen Stefani leave The Voice? Plus, learn what’s next for the “Hollaback Girl” singer.
Why did Gwen Stefani leave The Voice?
Why did Gwen Stefani leave The Voice? The 54-year-old singer hasn’t announced that she’s leaving the show, and whether the change is temporary or permanent is unknown. It’s not uncommon for coaches to rotate, as Stefani has acted as a coach on and off since 2014. However, we do know that Stefani is putting out new music soon.
“I’m actually putting out music, so I’m excited about that,” Stefani told Entertainment Tonight before the Season 24 finale. “I’ve been working on this for a long time. I’ve finally landed in that place where I’m obsessed, where I can’t stop listening, so I feel like I’m somewhere.”
The “Rich Girl” artist continued, “I’m just trying to find like little pockets of time to make music and it still never gets old… It’s still so exciting and magical.”
There’s also a possibility that Stefani could be exiting the singing competition to spend more time with her family, which is one of the suspected reasons her husband exited The Voice. In an interview with People in December 2022, Shelton hinted that he decided to leave The Voice to focus on his family, which includes Stefani and his three stepsons — Kingston, Apollo and Zuma — from Stefani’s marriage to ex-husband, Gavin Rossdale. “Gwen and I have done so much traveling and touring and work the first half of our lives that now we’re like, ‘Hey, I’m good to put my sweatpants on at 6 p.m. and watch Ozark eight times,’” he said at the time. “That’s our life now, and we love it.”
While Stefani returned to The Voice as a mentor for Season 24, Shelton confirmed that Season 22 — the last season he won with contestant Bryce Leatherwood — was the last time viewers will ever see him and Stefani as full-time coaches. “I walked over to Gwen’s chair after the cameras went off and she’s over there literally sobbing,” Shelton said of the Season 22 finale. “She was like, ‘This is our last time that we’re going to do this together.’”
As for how she was feeling now that Season 24 was over, Stefani also told ET that she was both “excited and sad,” adding, “This season has so many incredible singers and I had such an amazing team of amazing people… everybody was just so inspiring and sweet.”
The singer’s contestant Carter Rubin won The Voice in Season 19 in 2020, giving Stefani her first win as coach. She’s only won the competition once.
The Voice Season 25 returns on February 26, 2024, on NBC.
For more on The Voice, check out our gallery below of every winner from Season 1 to Season 24.
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