‘The Voice’ Jake Hoot on Growing up on the Mission Field: ‘It Made Me Who I Am’

When recently crowned champion of The Voice Jake Hoot was growing up, he couldn’t even watch TV, much less dream of winning a reality TV talent competition. Hoot was born in Tennessee, but spent much of his formative years with his parents and eight siblings, as missionaries living in the Dominican Republic. It was a challenging upbringing, but one that Hoot is grateful for, especially now.

“The way we grew up made me who I was,” Hoot told CMT. “I was blown away when we got to the United States and we had electricity 24/7. And I remember when one of my brothers stepped on grass for the first time when we were in the U.S., and he was like, “Dad, what is this?” We just weren’t used to that kind of stuff, and that influenced me. There were moments when I thought that the things my mom and dad did were the norm, and then come to find out that there’s not a whole lot of people like that.”

Hoot, who has one daughter and is also helping raise his girlfriend’s daughter, knows he will never live up to the standard his parents set for him, even though he will always try.