In a now well-known story, Reba McEntire was first offered the role of a coach for Season 1 of The Voice in 2011, which she turned down. The job instead went to Blake Shelton, who stayed for 23 seasons before exiting in 2023, with McEntire taking his spot. The Country Music Hall of Fame member remained for three seasons, before taking a break for the current season, with Kelsea Ballerini filling her spot..
But now, McEntire is sharing new insight on why she turned it down — and why she is now more excited than ever to return, this time with Snoop Dogg, Michael Bublé and Niall Horan.
“I was really dreading it at first, because I don’t want to tell anybody they suck,” McEntire reveals on Late Night with Seth Meyer. “I passed on it years ago, when it first came over from Holland. And I said, ‘I can’t tell somebody, don’t give up your day job.’ I’m not gonna do that. But the way we did it, on the first time I was on The Voice, it was more helpful and encouraging. And everybody that’s coming back now, Snoop, Michael, myself and Niall, we’re nice people. We encourage. We lift up.”
McEntire was unable to return for the current season, likely due to her role as the star and executive producer of Happy’s Place, but she is thrilled with how well Ballerini took over.
“Oh, the scheduling was totally it,” McEntire tells Today.com. “I thought Kelsea Ballerini did such a great job. That was a really good pick with her.”
McEntire has worked with — and loved — all three coaches previously, which is why she is eager to return to work with them again.
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“[Chemistry] is very important,” McEntire maintains. “Fans are not stupid. They know when people are not getting along and they’re acting like they are.”
McEntire is excited to work with all three of her fellow coaches, but she admits she is especially thrilled to work with Snoop Dogg again.
“He’s a hoot,” McEntire says. “We bonded really quick. He’s a nice guy, big heart, loves family, loves his fans.”
Being on The Voice is just part of McEntire’s legacy of success, one that spans five decades. And the 70-year-old is determined not to waste any of it.
“[I’m] very grateful, very thankful,” McEntire tells People. “And I never thought at the 20th anniversary that I’d be hitting this one. But I have to give a lot of credit to people who have been before me — Tammy [Wynette], Dolly [Parton], Loretta [Lynn] — who have paved the roads for girl singers of my generation and the ones that are coming up after me. So it’s been a lot of fun.”
“God gave me a gift and I try to use it and to give Him all the praise and the glory,” she adds. “Because without Him, I wouldn’t have had it and could have given it to somebody else, so I try to make Him proud.”