Blake Says He Wasn’t First Choice For The Voice’s Country Coach – Reba Was
Blake Shelton / Reba McEntire / Facebook
The two staples on every season of The Voice so far have been host Carson Daly and coach Blake Shelton.
On the April 26, 2011 premiere, Shelton was joined by fellow coaches Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, and Adam Levine.
But, as it turns out, if The Voice had their first choice in country coaches, Shelton wouldn’t have been cast.
During a special Voice event at his downtown Nashville bar Ole Red, Shelton performed, but also spilled some never before heard secrets!
https://www.facebook.com/blakeshelton/photos/a.10151997918789895/10156966306129895
During the performance, Shelton told the crowd, “If I’m not mistaken, they wanted Reba [McEntire] to be a coach on ‘The Voice’ first. They knew they wanted a country artist to be a coach on The Voice, to fill that lane. So they called Starstruck [Entertainment].“
Starstruck Entertainment was Reba McEntire‘s then-management company, run by her ex-husband Narvel Blackstock. Shelton is also a client, being represented by Narvel’s son – and McEntire’s stepson – Brandon Blackstock.
The “God’s Country” singer continued, “Reba, at the time, for whatever reason — I think she may have had her [show] ‘Malibu Country’ going at the time. For whatever reason, she couldn’t do it.”
Even though McEntire wasn’t available, Narvel suggested another one of Starstruck’s clients, Blake Shelton.
At Ole Red, Shelton also said, “I had done a show for NBC a couple of years before, called Clash of the Choirs, that was just a one-week seasonal thing. I was a coach for a choir there, and it was fun. So they knew just enough about me that they rolled the dice and said, ‘Okay, we’ll try him.’ At the time, I think ‘Hillbilly Bone’ had been a hit, and one other song, so I was on the radio. It was enough justification that, ‘Yeah, he could be the country representative.'”
So, he booked the job – without ever meeting Aguilera, Green, or Levine – and has never looked back.
“It was magical, the way it all happened,” he added.
Now, he’s been on our TV screens for 17 seasons – that’s 8 1/2 years – and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
