Blake Shelton Crushes ‘The Voice’ Fans’ Hopes With Candid Thoughts About Returning

As The Voice returns for a brand new season, some fans will no doubt be wondering if beloved former coach Blake Shelton has any plans to return. Unfortunately for those viewers… Shelton has already made some crushingly candid comments about his feelings on coming back to the hit competition series, and it’s clear he has no plans to return.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at the grand opening of his new Ole Red bar and restaurant in Las Vegas, the 47-year-old country singer opened up about his exit, revealing what he misses about being part of the show. “I miss the people,” Shelton said. “I mean, those people became like family to me, literally from the crew all up to the producers of the show. I was with them more than I was with my family … I miss that.” He then said candidly that he does not “miss the job at all.”

“I totally needed a break from that, because if I wasn’t into it then it wasn’t good for whoever was on my team,” Shelton went on to say, offering some insight as to why he exited The Voice. “I don’t want to be someone who’s just going through the motions. Those artists need somebody fighting for them.”

Shelton then added, “The second I started feeling like, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t even remember what season this is anymore. Who are the coaches on this season?’ [I knew that] I needed [to get] away from here.”

Notably, Shelton did admit that there was one thing that could potentially coerce him to come back, if even for just one more season. “If they were ever able to put together the original four coaches again, maybe [I’d return] for one season, a one-off,” he said referring to his three original co-judges CeeLo Green, Adam Levine, and Christina Aguilera. “That would be fun for me … That would be something I would be interested in doing.”

The Voice is kicking off its 26th season, with judges Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire, Snoop Dogg, Michael Bublé. Fans can catch all the musical excitement when The Voice airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.