‘The Voice’: Blake Shelton Jokes About Blocking Kelly Clarkson, Blames Gwen Stefani

Season 19 of The Voice only premiered on Monday, but the competition is already heating up. On Tuesday night, the blind auditions continued. Of course, that meant that the rivalry between the coaches — Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, John Legend, and Gwen Stefani — and the blocks continued, as well.

At the beginning of Tuesday night’s episode, Shelton utilized his block on Clarkson, preventing her from securing vocalist Taryn Papa on her team. The “Because of You” singer didn’t even realize that she had been blocked when she pressed her own button to turn around for Papa. Ultimately, the contestant chose to be on Shelton’s team. Following the audition, Shelton pretended as though he wasn’t the one that blocked his fellow coach. Instead, he blamed his girlfriend, Stefani. On Twitter, Shelton doubled-down and insisted that he was not the one who blocked Clarkson by jokingly writing that he was surprised that Stefani pulled out the block. It should also be noted that this wasn’t even Clarkson’s first time being blocked this season, as Legend blocked her on the premiere episode during John Holiday’s audition.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been strict safety guidelines on Season 19 of The Voice. Not only are the coaches spaced out from one another, but the show has also implemented a virtual audience that sits in during the audition process. Ahead of the NBC competition’s premiere, Shelton opened up to Entertainment Tonight about how these changes will affect The Voice. Based on his responses to the publication, his fun-natured rivalry with his fellow coaches is in full force this season.

“We’re able to hear the artists in a way that we’ve never heard before — and we’re able to hear the insults coming from the other coaches in a way that we’ve never heard them before,” Shelton joked. “They’re really cutting through.” Naturally, the country singer spoke about Stefani’s return to the series (Stefani previously served as a coach in Seasons 7, 9, 12, and 17). Shelton added, “Having Gwen back is very comforting to all the coaches. We were all able to just go back to the game we already knew. We all know how to play each other at this thing. It felt like the old gang got back together again, and we’re having a blast.”