Spoiler alert! The following story reveals the winner of The Voice Season 22, revealed on the December 13 finale, so consider yourself warned!
The Voice crowned its 22nd champion in a two-hour live results broadcast on NBC, after a season of impressive live performances and amusing banter between the four celebrity coaches. On Blake Shelton’s penultimate season, the country star notched his ninth victory, taking Bryce Leatherwood all the way to end and upsetting frontrunner Bodie, as the country singer garnered the majority of America’s votes after an exciting performance finale the night before.
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton opened the Tuesday broadcast with an elaborate skit in which they were both trying to steal the trophy in order to secure the win for the cowboy. It turns out all the theatrics were unnecessary, as the 22-year-old from Georgia finished the season with the trophy in hand. In his final words to Leatherwood ahead of the announcement, Shelton congratulated the artist, saying success is already his. In the cowboy's words:
You already made it, man. You literally already made it. I know my genre, and I know the country music fans out there. You got a career ahead of you, dude. Congratulations already.
The reveal of Bryce Leatherwood as the winner followed a star-studded night of performances from artists including Kelly Clarkson, Maluma, Adam Lambert and Season 21 winners, Girl Named Tom. Each finalist also got to sing a duet with their coach, with Blake Shelton taking the stage with the eventual winner for a fun rendition of Shelton's “Hillbilly Bone.”
This season Bryce Leatherwood leaned hard into his country roots, covering songs by legends including Conway Twitty, George Strait, Travis Tritt and more, before taking on Keith Whitley in the finale with “Don’t Close Your Eyes” and another Tritt hit, “T-R-O-U-B-L-E.”
Blake Shelton went into the performance finale with three artists — Bryce Leatherwood, Brayden Lape (who placed fifth) and Bodie. John Legend was represented by Omar Jose Cardona (the fourth-place finisher), who gave an impressive performance of “My Heart Will Go On” in the semifinals, and first-time coach Camila Cabello also had one artist on the last night of competition with Morgan Myles. Gwen Stefani’s team was unfortunately eliminated in the semifinal round, so it’s a good thing she said she’d already won by marrying Blake Shelton.
Season 22 was full of cute moments between Mr. and Mrs. Shelton — the first married couple to be featured on The Voice’s coaching panel. Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton simultaneously trolled each other and were caught sharing adorable moments as they battled it out for the win.
Gwen Stefani will not be back when The Voice returns as part of the 2023 TV schedule on March 6, 2023, and neither will John Legend or Camila Cabello. Blake Shelton’s final season will pit him against former rival Kelly Clarkson and first-time coaches Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper.
