‘The Voice’: Ariana Grande Joins Season 21 as Newest Coach

The Voice is switching things up for Season 21, bringing in Ariana Grande as a full-time coach to replace Nick Jonas, the “Into You” singer announced Tuesday on Twitter. Calling herself “beyond thrilled” to be joining fellow coaches Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Blake Shelton next season, Grande tweeted out a photo of herself sitting in her new chair.

Jonas, who had made his coaching debut in Season 18, returned in Season 20 to fill in after Gwen Stefani decided to leave following Season 19. The “Sucker” singer has yet to weigh in publicly on the news that Grande will be taking his seat, nor have any of the fellow coaches, but it’s common for stars to take seasons off and make their return at a later date depending on what’s going on in their own career.

“Ariana is a huge fan of The Voice and her management team has been negotiating to get her on the show for a while,” an insider told Page Six of the NBC show bringing in Grande to replace Jonas. “She is replacing Nick Jonas, who is a [coach] on the current season, but he isn’t leaving for good. Nick will remain on rotation with other stars that have appeared on the show. The chances are he will be back soon.”

The Voice is currently ready for the battle rounds, airing Monday, April 5 and April 12 on NBC. During this week’s show, Clarkson was noticeably absent, with country music star Kelsea Ballerini filling in for her as Team Clarkson continues to vie for the win. Host Carson Daly explained that the “Breakaway” singer was feeling a little under the weather, requiring her to miss a few recordings of the show. “Unfortunately, our own Kelly Clarkson was not feeling well this week,” he said at the start of the show. “Kelly is staying at home but she’s watching the battles remotely, and we were very lucky enough to get her good friend and our good friend, [Kelsea Ballerini].”

“Thank you so much [Kelsea Ballerini] for sitting in for me while I was feeling under the weather!” Clarkson wrote on Instagram. “I know my team is in great hands with you!! Y’all aren’t going to want to miss this!! The battles start next week on [The Voice]!”