Blake Shelton Predicts Gwen Stefani Will Return to ‘The Voice’ Again

No one was likely more disappointed than Blake Shelton when his longtime girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, announced she would not return for Season 18 of The Voice next year. Stefani will instead be replaced by Nick Jonas, although Shelton predicts fans haven’t seen the last of Stefani in one of the coach’s red swivel chairs.

“So we’ll get Nick [Jonas] in there, and I’ll kick his a––, and then hopefully at some point we’ll bring Gwen back — or whoever it is — but I definitely don’t think we’ve seen the last of her on the show,” Shelton said (via PEOPLE).

The “Hell Right” singer was a fan of Jonas serving as a coach on the show, until the two men started working together, doing blind auditions for Season 18, and Shelton realized what a fierce competitor Jonas can be.

“I’m starting to hate the guy because I’m competing with him now,” Shelton quipped. “He is a tough, tough guy to go against. When you turn your chair around and there’s a young person up there, and they’re trying to choose between me and then Nick Jonas sitting down there, I’m screwed almost every time. So yeah, he can kiss my a–– till the season’s over.”

Still, although Shelton might be already pining for Stefani to be on the set of The Voice, he acknowledges that switching up the coaches isn’t always a bad thing, especially when it comes to giving viewers something new and different each season.

“The only the way to really do that is to change the coaches out every season a little bit, as long as it’s not me,” Shelton said.

Shelton might have made peace with Stefani stepping way from The Voice, which she is doing to fulfill other professional responsibilities, including her Just a Girl residency in Las Vegas, but he is already pining for her return.

“I don’t know if I have any power, but I definitely have a loud voice when it comes to that,” Shelton said. “And I make it known that I don’t ever want her to leave.”

While Shelton is sad about Stefani’s impending departure, he still has plenty to be happy about, including his recent CMA Award for Single of the Year, for “God’s Country.”

The Voice also includes recently-crowned PEOPLE’S Sexiest Man Alive, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson. The show airs on Monday and Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo Credit: Getty / CBS Photo Archive