Blake Shelton announced earlier this season that he’ll be leaving The Voice soon. He’s been there from the start, a 22 season run. He met his wife, Gwen Stefani, there. This season, they reunited for the first time as coaches since their marriage. It’s a monumental change to one of television’s most popular reality competition series.
This week, he debuted a new television project with The Voice host Carson Daly called Barmageddon. The series is on the USA Network and is filmed at Shelton’s Nashville bar on Lower Broadway, Ole Red. It features celebrity contestants competing in ridiculously oversized bar games from versions of darts to beer pong. There’s no way to know how long that project will continue, but it’s certainly entertaining.
Now, Shelton is revealing who he believes should fill hit chair on The Voice. He offered the suggestion in a tweet this week.
“Y’all know that next spring The Voice season 23 will be my last… So I’d like to throw Neal McCoy’s hat in the ring as my replacement! Can I get an amen?!!!” he said in the tweet.
Y’all know that next spring The Voice season 23 will be my last… So I’d like to throw @NealMcCoy's hat in the ring as my replacement! Can I get an amen?!!!!
— Blake Shelton (@blakeshelton) December 2, 2022
McCoy responded to his invitation in on Twitter.
“Thanks, buddy,” McCoy replied. “Could you send that comment to The Voice also?”
Thanks buddy, could you send that comment to the @NBCTheVoice also
— Neal McCoy (@NealMcCoy) December 4, 2022
McCoy deliberately tagged the official show account in his own tweet. His Facebook page surfaced this notion a couple of months ago.
“News Alert: Rumor has it that Blake Shelton has reached out to Neal McCoy about filling the empty judge’s chair on The Voice when he steps down. Disclaimer: so far it is only a rumor….(started by me),” the post read.
There are plenty of opinions about who should take over when Blake Shelton leaves next spring. Fellow coach John Legend was asked who he thinks it should be in a recent red carpet interview with Extra.
“Well, I think it should be someone in country,” he said. “We have never had another country coach before because it has only been Blake. So, you know, I could see Carrie [Underwood] doing it.”
Carrie Underwood’s “Denim & Rhinestones” tour wraps in the spring, and she’ll likely take time off after the exhaustive run of shows. Maybe she can fit coaching duties into her schedule, and it would certainly be entertaining.
Meanwhile, Blake Shelton has plotted a tour of his own for the new year. The Back to the Honky Tonk Tour kicks off on February 16 in Lincoln Nebraska. The run of dates continues through March 25 where it concludes in Buffalo, New York at the Keybank Center and includes several stops in smaller markets along the way. He’ll also hit cities like Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Jacksonville. He’s got great support on this trek, too. Carly Pearce and Jackson Dean open all dates. Check out the full schedule on Shelton’s official website.
