There’s something strange about a spring season without The Voice to help fill our Monday and Tuesday evenings. Fans who are already reeling from the longest break of the show's 10-year history are being made even more anxious by the lack of an update from NBC regarding the Season 22 coaches. Kelly Clarkson may not be currently dodging Blake Shelton’s insults, but she’s certainly kept busy in other ways, including co-hosting NBC's American Song Contest while planning a revamp of her daytime talk show. With everything going on, we can’t help but wonder: Will these changes affect her availability to work on The Voice?
Since winning Season 21 of The Voice with the history-making trio Girl Named Tom, Kelly Clarkson has kept her foot on the accelerator. Along with hosting NBC’s new singing competition with Snoop Dogg, the singer’s daytime talk show is as hot as ever, and she’s reportedly planning a complete overhaul when The Kelly Clarkson Show takes over The Ellen Degeneres Show’s time slot when the comedian ends her longtime talk show May 26. So what does that mean for The Voice?
As far as her talk show, she’s always logistically been able to juggle that at the same time as unexpectedly complicated comes up, it’s likely The Voice's next season will go forward unaffected by all of Kelly Clarkson’s recent moves. American Song Contest’s finale is set for May 9, which obviously won't hinder anything. Even if ASC gets renewed for Season 2, it's likely that production would take place in early 2023, after The Voice has wrapped. A
As far as her talk show goes, Kelly Clarkson has always logistically been able to juggle those duties with her responsibilities on The Voice. Possibly the biggest question mark is where the American Idol winner herself wants to focus her attention. The past couple of years have been coupled with a lot of changes, including her divorce being finalized, and now would feasibly be as good a time as any to explore new opportunities.
However, my gut tells me Clarkson will be back without worry. Her most recent victory on The Voice gave her an impressive 50% win rate, as Team Kelly has now come out on top in four of the coach’s eight seasons in the Big Red Chair. Can she really walk away from that? How would you not go back just to sit next to Blake Shelton and rub that in his face every day?
Speaking of the OG coach, there was quite a bit of concern that the cowboy was ready to hang up his hat after 21 seasons. NBC's adjustment to focusing on just one season a year might have ended up working in his favor, however, as he seemed to indicate this spring break would be the recharge that his battery needed to keep going a while longer.
The other coaches from Season 21 — John Legend and Ariana Grande — are more questionable as returnees, as they’re currently immersed in other projects. Legend’s Las Vegas residency opened April 22, but if The Voice Season 22 follows a similar production schedule to past seasons, the Love in Las Vegas show likely wouldn’t conflict with the singing competition.
Ariana Grande’s starring role in the movie adaptation of Wicked, however, is a different story. Grande’s co-star Cynthia Erivo said in March that rehearsals are set to begin in July ahead of the start of filming, and with the pair of movies being shot in the U.K., that seems to indicate the “Thank U, Next” singer might need to be replaced on The Voice panel.
Obviously it’s all speculation until we hear something official from NBC, so we’ll continue to hold our breaths until that happens! In the meantime, be sure to check out Kelly Clarkson on American Song Contest at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on NBC, and check your local listings to find The Kelly Clarkson Show in your area. Also be sure to take a look at our 2022 TV Schedule to keep up to date on all of the upcoming premieres.
