Blake Shelton issued a teasing apology to a contestant on the most recent episode of The Voice . The country superstar said he was sorry The Voice hopeful got “stuck” with Nick Jonas as a coach because Gwen Stefani wasn’t a part of Season 18.
The moment went down during Monday night’s final Blind Audition round. As Entertainment Tonight reported, ska singer Anders Drerup auditioned by singing Elvis Presley’s hit “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
The contestant put his own spin on the classic song, which caught rookie coach Nick’s attention. He was the only one to turn his chair around for the singer as Blake, Kelly Clarkson, and John Legend all chose not to hit their button, which meant Anders became a part of Nick’s team by default.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6nYZjVtYfg
As all of the coaches shared their thoughts on the audition, Blake playfully made his feelings about Nick replacing his girlfriend on the show very clear.
The country star admitted that Anders’ ska vibe would have made him the perfect contestant to be mentored by Gwen, who served as a coach on Seasons 7, 9, 12, and 17 of the NBC series and appeared as an advisor on Seasons 8 and 10. The star has a distinct ska sound to her music, particularly back in her No Doubt days.
“Hey, Buddy, Gwen Stefani’s not on this season!” the “God Gave Me You” singer quipped after it was revealed that Anders had landed a spot on Team Nick.
“You’re stuck with Nick,” Blake then said, jokingly adding, “I’m sorry!”
It seems like Nick didn’t take the playful jab from his fellow coach to heart, as he was pretty excited and shared a whole lot of praise for the newest contestant to join his team.
“I think it was a phenomenal place to start,” the Jonas Brothers singer said, referring to Anders’ ska vibe.
“I can hear in the higher register of your voice, too, that we’re going to have a lot of fun with the song selection and actually flipping things around. Yes! Let’s go!” he added.
Blake and Nick have already enjoyed a lot of playful banter with each other, starting back when it was officially announced last year that the 27-year-old singer would be replacing Gwen on Season 18.
Back in November, Blake said he found it to be “unacceptable” that Gwen would not be back again.
“He’s going down!” the country superstar jokingly quipped while speaking to Entertainment Tonight .
“He replaced my girlfriend and that’s unacceptable.”
Gwen previously admitted that she didn’t particularly want to be replaced on Season 18 and hinted that she’d be open to the idea of returning as a coach further down the line.
