Adam Levine Speaks out About Decision to Leave ‘The Voice’

Although he doesn’t regret his decision to leave The Voice, Adam Levine does miss it, the singer told Ellen DeGeneres on Monday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. After serving as a coach on the NBC singing competition for a decade, life has slowed down a bit for the Maroon 5 frontman.

“I really do miss it. I love the people that I met and worked with, and you all obviously know how I feel about [fellow coach] Blake [Shelton],” he said. “I do miss it but I don’t miss how much I had to work. I was constantly working for so many years — very lucky, very fortunate, very blessed and all that — but to just be able to stop in this moment to spend time with my new young family and just have the greatest time ever. Now I’m a stay-at-home dad. I just stay at home and do very little.”

Levine is dad to daughters Gio Grace, 3, and Dusty Rose, 1, with wife Behati Prinsloo.

“I’m obsessed with them,” he told DeGeneres of his kids. “I genuinely just adore them in a way I never knew I could adore any person.”

Levine announced his decision to leave The Voice in May, just two weeks after NBC confirmed plans for his return, and that he had actually signed on to appear in two more cycles of The Voice. But as previously reported, the 40-year-old was said to have grown increasingly anxious to move on, despite walking away from a nearly $30 million payday from his would-be new deal.

Despite mentioning Shelton on Ellen after a photo of the former co-workers was shown to the audience, an anonymous Emmy voter told THR about a rumor that the two “really dislike each other, but play nice on TV.”

“I’ve heard from a friend who works on it … that two of the hosts really dislike each other, but play nice on TV,” the voter said. When prompted for more information, the voter added, “Blake Shelton and Adam Levine hate each other. … [Levine] didn’t walk away — I heard it was a ‘me or him.’”

During his appearance on Ellen, Levine also announced a new Maroon 5 tour and opened up about the loss of his best friend and manager, Jordan Feldstein, who died at 40 years old in December 2017 and who Maroon 5’s new song “Memories” was inspired by.

“It’s a heavy song. This incredible guy came to me with this song,” Levine said, adding that it was about “loss.”

“All of us share that in common. I had just gone losing through my manager and my best friend. I was in diapers with this guy. And he passed away recently and so this song came to me at a very interesting time,” he said.

“So this is very heavy. I’ve never had a song about anything quite like this. I miss him every day and to me this is the best possible way to tribute him.”

Felstein, who is the brother of actors Jonah Hill and Beanie Feldstein, died in December 2017 from a pulmonary thromboembolism.