As a longtime fan of The Voice, I was over the moon with excitement at the announcement that Kelly Clarkson was returning to the revamped singing competition for Season 29. However, we recently learned the struggles her family has been facing, which caused absences from her talk show and concert cancellations. Clarkson’s ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, died after a years-long battle with cancer and, now, it looks like the singer will miss some tapings of The Voice. So who are they looking at to fill her spot?
Seasons 28 and 29 of The Voice are filming simultaneously, with the former set to premiere on the 2025 TV schedule on September 22 and the latter coming in spring 2026. Kelly Clarkson will reportedly step away, at least temporarily, in the aftermath of the death of her two children's father. An insider told The Sun:
Kelly will not be at the tapings scheduled next week for Thursday and Friday. Production is working on a replacement coach for her now.
The Voice’s 29th season will premiere during NBC’s “Legendary February,” during which the network will air Super Bowl LX, the Winter Olympics and the NBA All-Star Game. In keeping with that theme, the upcoming cycle has been dubbed the “Season of Champions”; however, the two music superstars who are being looked at to step in for Kelly Clarkson don’t quite fulfill that criteria. The source continued:
Kelsea Ballerini and Miley Cyrus have been considered to fill in, but right now, it's all still a work in progress.
John Legend and Adam Levine are the other Voice coaches for Season 29, and while they have each previously brought a team member to victory on The Voice, neither Kelsea Ballerini (Season 27) nor Miley Cyrus (Seasons 11 and 13) can say the same. However, Ballerini did previously replace Kelly Clarkson when she was ill during Season 20.
Kelly Clarkson isn’t the only mentor affected by the current circumstances. Season 28 coach Reba McEntire was married to Brandon’s father Narvel from 1989 to 2015, and she too will miss some tapings of her upcoming season due to the death of her stepson, who she paid tribute to in a sweet post. The insider said The Voice is doing whatever it can to accommodate McEntire and Clarkson, saying:
Whatever they want, the show will give them. They don't owe the show anything right now. But they are being incredibly professional throughout this. As much as one can be during a time like this. Kelly, especially, though needs a lot of time to heal. They understand that. Not to mention her kids are starting their new school year. It's terrible timing but is there ever good timing for such a tragedy?
It’s unknown if another coach will fill in for Reba McEntire or if The Voice could potentially film around her absence. It will be interesting to see how the singing competition handles losing a coach for each of the next two seasons, but it sounds like the priority is making sure McEntire and Kelly Clarkson get the time they need during this terrible time for their family.
The Voice Season 28 premieres at 8 p.m. ET Monday, September 22, on NBC and can be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
