Christina Aguilera Says She Quit ‘The Voice’ Because She Found It Unfair
Christina Aguilera is once again opening up about her decision to quit The Voice, despite being one of the show’s original coaches alongside mainstays Blake Shelton and Adam Levine. Speaking candidly in a new interview with the LA Times, Xtina revealed that she decided it was time to step away after the show began going in a direction she didn’t exactly support.
Christina revealed in the interview that she felt The Voice began to change after it became a huge hit for NBC, even rivaling American Idol in terms of attention and ratings.
“Nobody expected [The Voice] to be as big as Idol or take off the way it did. It just became a whole different kind of a machine,” she explained when asked about her departure. “It just wasn’t exactly what I wanted to be doing with my life. I’m not a spokesperson. I’m an artist.”
She added that she struggled to juggle the pressure that comes with the popular NBC show, noting that they would sometimes have two teams to work with because of how the seasons were filmed and the overlapping of episodes.
Christina also suggested that over time The Voice became less about its initial niche, which was the blind audition stages and finding a great singer rather than focusing on appearances and ratings as other similar talent shows have done in the past.
“…That idea of not being able to see them was genius to me,” she said, explaining that she found the blind auditions and not being able to see who was singing right away to be very “intriguing” when she first signed on the dotted line to be a coach.
“I kept seeing things that were not lining up with that original vision. The show progressed in a direction I wasn’t into and that I didn’t think was a lot of times fair,” Aguilera then added.
Christina confessed while speaking to the outlet that she felt the show began to become more about ratings, with some things implemented to spike viewing figures.
“Certain factors… are dictated according to what ratings will be. It’s definitely a business,” Xtina said of how the series progressed. “I also saw blatant things that I didn’t think were okay and that I’m sure no one would want to put up with in a work environment. It was important for me to step away.”
As Inquisitr reported earlier this year, Aguilera didn’t exactly have the nicest things to say about the show earlier this year when she suggested that she’ll probably never return to her red spinning chair. The star explained the experience as being “stifling” for her and noted that she didn’t feel she had much freedom during her seasons as a coach.
Aguilera also opened up about quitting her role to W Magazine in May, where she said in the interview that the blind auditions changed and everyone they began to see was more “good-looking.”
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Say HELLO to your Season 8 coaches! @adamlevine @Pharrell @xtina @blakeshelton #TheVoice pic.twitter.com/Nt7Sfq2GSx
— The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) October 14, 2014
Xtina then slammed the show in another candid interview about her departure with Billboard, admitting that she discovered that the series is “not about music” and is instead about “making good TV moments” while suggesting that she probably won’t ever be returning as a coach on the series again.
Aguilera appeared on the first three consecutive seasons of The Voice between 2011 and 2012. She then appeared on Season 5 but gave up her red spinning chair until Season 8, only appearing as a part-time adviser on Season 7.
Christina then returned for Season 10 in 2016 but has not appeared on the singing competition since.
As Inquisitr previously confirmed, The Voice will return for Season 15 with Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson, and Jennifer Hudson on the coaching panel in September.
