Kelly Clarkson To Save ‘The Voice’ Ratings Slump, As Producers Allegedly Demand Stefani, Shelton Proposal

Kelly Clarkson has officially signed on as a coach on The Voice, and from what sources have gathered, producers are desperately hoping that the former American Idol contestant can save the show from its ratings slump.

According to Celeb Dirty Laundry, The Voice has been dipping as far as their viewership is concerned and network execs are worried, wondering whether people could potentially be getting tired of the show. So, in the hopes of keeping the ratings up, the line-up of coaches are changing again — this time, it’s with stars that can bring something new to the format.

Sources claim that Kelly Clarkson could potentially be a good fit for the show because of her fun personality. Producers are convinced that the “Almost Gone” singer will bring something new to the show that previous coaches weren’t able to do, but since her appearance on the show won’t be made until 2018, one has to wonder whether The Voice can sustain its viewership until then.

News of Kelly Clarkson signing on for the show came just days after it was revealed, via TV Series Finale, that the talent show had made a 33 percent drop throughout its 12th series run, which kicked off with 13 million people watching. Since then, it’s averaged at a usual 9 million viewers.

The production budget for the show is extremely high, particularly since the coaches are earning up to $13 million per season, so if the ratings are not sustaining at a reasonable level, NBC could potentially be in danger to make some drastic financial cuts.

American Idol ended up facing the same outcome. The ratings continued to drop, the production budget was at an all-time high, and even when salaries were slashed, the show, under FOX, had no chance of staying on the air anymore. Of course, that was before ABC bought the rights to bring the format to their network. It’s now being revamped for 2018.

With that said, until 2018, producers for The Voice are trying to come up with different ideas to keep the viewers entertained — at least until Kelly Clarkson makes her debut early next year. It’s argued, however, whether Kelly Clarkson can really pull in a number of viewers that producers hope she will.

For the meantime, it’s been alleged that current coaches Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton have been told to be more flirtatious during the live tapings of the show in the hopes that it can attract more people to tune in. The icing on the cake would reportedly be if Blake was to propose to Gwen live on air, but whether that would happen has yet to be seen.

“Since this season is approaching the end, producers are hoping that the couple will move forward with the engagement,” Celeb Dirty Laundry notes. “Blake Shelton has been ready to propose to Gwen Stefani since the beginning of their relationship. But the former No Doubt front woman isn’t listening to producers because she doesn’t trust them.”

“Multiple reports have indicated that producers are asking Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton to make an on-air proposal to save the show. This proposal may surprise the viewers, but it will not surprise either of the parties,” claims the gossip site.

Meanwhile, ABC is said to be furious over NBC’s decision to snatch Kelly Clarkson from them, since American Idol producers had made an offer to the singer prior to her even negotiating anything with the rival network.

It’s believed that NBC struck a deal in the last minute to get Kelly Clarkson on The Voice, with plans to work with her on forthcoming musicals. It seemed to be a deal that made more sense for Kelly Clarkson since she has already shared a close relationship with NBC for as long as she can remember.

Will Kelly Clarkson be able to draw in more ratings if the show is already losing viewers’ interest? Kelly Clarkson, in a statement, has said she is excited to join The Voice, but are you?

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