Kelly Clarkson Calls Out Blake Shelton After Replacing Gwen Stefani On ‘The Voice’
Kelly Clarkson still has another season to wait before she joins The Voice, but that hasn’t stopped her from taking aim at her rival Blake Shelton. Clarkson was cast for Season 14 of NBC’s hit singing competition and told Shelton that she “can’t wait” to take him down.
According to Billboard, Blake Shelton announced Clarkson as the newest coach during a Facebook Live session on Thursday. The country crooner had nothing but good things to say about Clarkson joining the show and believes she will be a perfect fit.
“This person is a very near and dear friend of mine, this person is somebody that I consider to be family and this person is extremely talented …We have felt as a family at The Voice that this person would fit in perfectly,” Shelton explained.
Shelton’s comments followed earlier announcements that Jennifer Hudson, another American Idol alum, is joining the show next season. Hudson will be competing alongside Shelton, Adam Levine, and Miley Cyrus. Both Gwen Stefani and Alicia Keys are taking a break, and it isn’t clear when they will return.
Clarkson was part of the Facebook Live session, and she revealed that her pregnancies have prevented her from joining the show in the past. She then took a shot at Shelton by showing off her collection of awards, which includes a musical event of the year from the CMA awards.
“I’ve been excited about this for a few years now — the timing hasn’t been right,” she stated. “I can’t wait to beat you — it’s going to be so glorious.”
TMZ reports that Kelly Clarkson was in talks to be a part of the new reboot of American Idol, but those negotiations fell through. ABC recently bought the rights to the former show and is expected to launch it sometime in March of 2018. They allegedly wanted Clarkson to be a judge, but the two sides couldn’t negotiate a proper salary. The former American Idol winner was reportedly too pricey.
As fans will recall, the insanely high salaries of the judges were among the reasons Fox decided to end American Idol in the first place. ABC is worried about the same thing happening and wasn’t willing to budge on their price. Season 14 of The Voice is expected to run at the same time as the American Idol reboot.
While Clarkson’s involvement on the show is exciting, Radar Online reports that ratings are at an all-time low. To remedy the situation, producers are urging Shelton and Stefani to ramp up their romance. They reportedly want the country star to propose to Stefani on live television, which would certainly attract a lot of viewers.
“Pressure is really mounting right now for Gwen and Blake to get engaged,” an insider revealed. “Especially since the season is nearing the end.”
This year marked Stefani’s return the show after taking a couple seasons off. The No Doubt alum boosted ratings at the beginning of the season, but things have gone downhill since then. While over 13 million fans tuned in during the season premiere, only 9 million watched the latest installment.
It isn’t known if Shelton will cave to the pressure and ask Stefani to marry him on the show. Even if Shelton is willing to propose in front of the cameras, it doesn’t sound like Stefani is on board.
“Gwen is just not jiving well and it seems like she is just over it at this point,” the source noted. “The ratings speak for themselves and others on staff are blaming Gwen and Blake for their lack of cooperation when it comes to giving the fans what they want.”
Tell us! Who do you think is a better fit for The Voice – Gwen Stefani or Kelly Clarkson? Let us know in the comments below.
[Featured Image by Rick Diamond/Getty Images]
