‘The Voice’ Producers Looking To Replace Blake Shelton After 21 Seasons
Ariana Grande’s arrival at The Voice has changed everything, including the future on the show of its only original star, Blake Shelton.
“Current top ten artists like Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X, Billie Elish, Olivia Rodrigo, and The Weeknd, were all hesitant about staring on a competition show before Ariana Grande signed on,” a source tells Radar.
“Now she has changed everything and opened the flood gates to future relevant talent which isn’t good news for Blake Shelton. Sure, he is a star and people love him, but he doesn’t exactly burn up the charts anymore,” the insider spilled.
“After a decade on the show, producer as quietly looking to replace Blake with someone younger and more current. Blake is great but he is not in Ariana’s league.”
Sources add that Ariana has brought a whole new level of excitement to the show particularly with younger viewers. “It is time for a shake-up. The only way the show remains fresh is by constantly evolving. Huge stars that wouldn’t even consider joining the show a few months ago are now thinking again, thanks to Ariana,” adds a top Hollywood agent.
The decision to get rid of Blake is a big one. He helped launch the singing competition show back in April 2011. The original line-up featured the country star, Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, and Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine.
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Christina appeared on the first three seasons and was paid an estimated $20 million a season for her work. The gig wasn’t for the pop star who left for season 4 and then returned for three additional seasons before finally leaving for good after season 10.
Adam lasted a full 16 seasons before deciding it was time for him to get back to music and other passion projects. CeeLo was also quickly phased out of the show.
Producers tried brining in Blake’s longtime partner Gwen Stefani as judge but that only lasted a couple of seasons spread out over years.
The current roster of judges is Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Ariana Grande, and Blake.