Blake Shelton was with The Voice for 23 seasons before leaving in 2023. At the time, he said he wanted to focus on other projects, and also spend more time with his three stepsons, after marrying Gwen Stefani in 2021. But now, Shelton says he would be open to returning to the reality TV talent show, at some point in the future.
“The people that work at The Voice, the producers and people behind the scenes are like family to me,” Shelton says on Country Countdown USA. “And I think the door would still be open. I mean, maybe not while I’m making another competition show on a different network. But I do think it still is open, and I look forward to going back and doing things here and there. The show changed my life.”
The competition show is of course The Road, which Shelton is executive producing along with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, and also includes Gretchen Wilson and Keith Urban.
“It’s just a different kind of show than what we’re doing,” Shelton explains. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to do something better. It just means we’re going to do something different, because I think there’s a lane for it.”
For Shelton, being on The Road was a new way for him to still be involved in helping aspiring singers, but in a way that hasn’t been done on any other show, including The Voice.
“Being a coach on The Voice for 23 seasons, if you have a job where you work for somebody for a long time, you can’t help but at some point over time go, ‘Well I tell you what, man. If I was the boss here, I’d do it this way, and I would do it this way or that way, and I would stop doing this,'” he explains. “And even though The Voice was awesome, and it’s a great show, you can’t help but think, ‘What if we did a show, and instead of doing this, we did this?’ And that’s kind of how The Road came about.”
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Shelton has more to look forward to than a new TV show. His For Recreational Use Only album, his first on BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville, will be out on May 9. The record is his first in four years, and one that at one point he wasn’t sure he would even make.
“I don’t think you’re being honest with yourself if you don’t have that thought, at least when you’ve been doing it as long as I have,” Shelton remarks. “Like, there’s a new generation, and then another new generation that have come along in the last few years. You have to think that way or you’re not being honest. The excitement of watching ‘Texas’ take off the way it did, while we were still trying to finish up the album was even more inspiring, and lit more of a fire under me.”
The Road will premiere on CBS this fall. Pre-order For Recreational Use Only, and find all of Shelton’s music and upcoming shows at BlakeShelton.com.