When The Voice returns from its longer-than-usual hiatus for Season 22 in September, it will mark the first season that Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani go head-to-head with their opposing teams as a married couple. The Nobody But You crooners celebrated their 1-year anniversary at the beginning of July, and as they assemble with fellow music superstars John Legend and first-timer Camila Cabello in the Big Red Chairs, Stefani said she’s finding her return to the set to be “surreal,” and she explained why doing the show is different now that she and the OG coach are husband and wife.
Gwen Stefani met Blake Shelton in 2014, when she replaced Shakira on The Voice’s coaching panel for Season 7 of the NBC singing competition. Each season of the show that she returned to marked a step forward in their relationship, and therefore, returning to Season 22 as husband and wife felt different in comparison to her previous stints on the show. Stefani told NBC Insider:
Stepping back on the set of The Voice this time was very surreal. Being married, it brought back so many memories of all the different seasons that we've been on The Voice together, all the different phases of our friendship, of our relationship.
It’s true that you can track their relationship over the different seasons that they both appeared on The Voice. The two met and became friends in 2014, with Gwen Stefani’s next appearance coming the next year in Season 9, when the two grew closer amid their divorces — Blake Shelton enduring a high-profile split from fellow country singer Miranda Lambert, and Stefani ending her 13-year marriage to Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale. By the time she returned for Season 12 in 2017, the romance was fully on. In Season 17 (2019), she replaced Shelton’s rival Adam Levine, and Stefani was last featured on Season 19 in 2020 — which premiered just days after the country star popped the question.
Gwen Stefani was undoubtedly flooded with memories when she returned for the first time in two years, and given how instrumental The Voice has been to her relationship — hell, Carson Daly even officiated their wedding — makes it a very special place for them indeed. Things may be different now that they’ve settled into their life together, but she said being on The Voice together is fun … just like everything they do together! She said:
It doesn't really matter where we are. We always have fun together. … It was just kinda easy and flawless and normal. It just feels like we're anywhere else we'd be together. And I have a lot of fun with him here.
Oh my gosh, they are actually still living the lyrics to their hit duet “Happy Anywhere.” They just don’t stop being adorable. They certainly seemed to be having fun — and so deeply in love — in the videos that Gwen Stefani posted from backstage at one of Blake Shelton’s shows. After a couple of pure fangirl moments, Stefani reunited with her husband backstage, where Blake Shelton laid on the charm, telling her that he had a great show that night because of her.
It may feel different for Gwen Stefani to be competing against her husband this time around, but something tells me neither one of them will have any problems getting the competitive juices flowing when the cameras start rolling. The Voice Season 22 returns to NBC at 8 p.m. ET Monday, September 19, on NBC. In the meantime, check out our 2022 TV schedule to see what other shows are premiering soon.
