Gwen Stefani Leaving 'The Voice' Just 1 Season After Comeback

Gwen Stefani's second tenure on The Voice is ending after just one season. Late Monday night, NBC [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Gwen Stefani's second tenure on The Voice is ending after just one season. Late Monday night, NBC announced Nick Jonas will be coming on to replace her. The announcement was also made on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with returning coaches Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend congratulating him. Kelly Clarkson will be back for Season 18 as well.

"As a member of one of the hottest pop groups, Nick's success in navigating all aspects of the music industry is exceptional," Meredith Ahr, President, Alternative and Reality Group, NBC Entertainment, said in a statement Monday. "We were so impressed by his innate musicality, technical aptitude and passion that he brought to Songland earlier this year and know he will be an incredible fit as a coach on 'The Voice.' We are excited to see Nick lend his mentorship, relatability and breadth of knowledge to a new crop of artists."

"I'm so excited to be a part of The Voice family," Jonas added. "It's such an awesome group of individuals, and I can't wait to help these artists really build and hone in to find their unique voices."

Stefani will continue her streak of never appearing as a coach or judge on consecutive seasons. She coached on Seasons 7, 9 and 12 before returning for the ongoing Season 17. She also served as a part-time advisor in Seasons 8 and 10.

The "Hollaback Girl" singer returned to The Voice after Adam Levine made the shocking decision to leave. The Maroon 5 frontman was one of the coaches for the first 16 seasons. Levine was reportedly not happy with rule changes during his final season on the show, particularly one that did not guarantee at least one singer for each coach during the Live Playoffs. The Season 16 final four included two Shelton singers and one member from Legend and Clarkson's teams each, leaving Levine without much to do on air.

Stefani, who is dating Shelton, was excited about returning to the challenge of coaching on The Voice.

"I'm not a competitive person," Stefani told Travel Girl in July. "In fact, competition makes me really uncomfortable. It was probably one of the reasons I almost didn't do the show, because I couldn't picture myself pitching myself and trying to fight, especially against a very competitive person like Adam Levine. Blake [Shelton] and Adam were so good at that. The longer I was on the show, the more I understood what I needed to do to 'pitch' for an artist and to go for it."

The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: Getty Images

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