‘The Voice’ Judge Kelly Clarkson Reveals Which Coach Is Her ‘Biggest Threat’

Season 16 of The Voice kicks off on Monday, Feb. 25, with one new coach, John Legend, joining veterans Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine. Although Clarkson has won the last two seasons (with Brynn Cartelli and Chevel Shepherd), the American Idol alum thinks there is one coach, Legend, who might be able to beat her this year.

“The sad part is I’d probably pick him over me,” Clarkson told ABC News Radio. “‘Cause he’s just super talented. He’s a very smart dude…musically, he’s got a lot of things to offer. So he is my biggest threat this season, for me specifically.”

Legend is happy to claim his own red swivel chair on The Voice, which he admits he secretly wished for, for years.

“I always thought it’d be a lot of fun to be a coach on the show, to work with new singers…and just to have fun with my fellow coaches, too,” Legend acknowledged. “I think [Adam and I] have a lot of similar tastes when it comes to the kinds of singers we’re gonna pick, so I have a feeling we’re gonna butt heads a bit when it comes to that, but that’s O.K. A little friendly competition never hurt anybody.”

Shelton has coached a singer to win The Voice a total of six times, but for him, just being on the show, especially for all 16 seasons, has already made him a winner.

I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I still love to make records and perform,” Shelton told ABC News Radio. “But I’ve got to say that I get such a rush out of working with these artists that audition for The Voice and make it onto the show.”

“And to kind of relive through their journey what it was like in the beginning for me, and to get those first opportunities, and to get that first feedback from people out there, to know if they like you or not, and what it is about what you do that they do like,” he continued.

Shelton is currently on his Friends & Heroes Tour, and will likely work on new music as well, all of which he credits to being on the reality TV talent show.

“Being a coach on The Voice has really kind of revitalized my excitement for this business again, you know,” Shelton said. “Because it’s easy to kind of fall into a rut, you know, and this definitely keeps me from doing that.”

Season 16 of The Voice will premiere at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo Credit: NBC / Trae Patton