Gwen Stefani Allegedly ‘Feeling Pressure’ Replacing Adam Levine On ‘The Voice,’ ‘Sparring’ With Blake Shelton
Gwen Stefani is allegedly feeling the “pressure” when it comes to taking over Adam Levine’s chair on Season 17 of The Voice. She’s said to have received a few tips from the show’s producers about filling the Maroon 5 singer’s very big shoes on the NBC singing competition.
According to a new report from Us Weekly, despite already appearing as a full-time coach on Seasons 7, 9, and 12, Gwen was reportedly feeling a little more apprehensive about returning again this year after Adam’s sudden departure.
“Gwen is feeling pressure to fill very big shoes with Adam Levine leaving The Voice,” an insider recently claimed to the site.
They added that executives on the show have supposedly urged the star – who’s famously been dating Blake for the past four years – to take on a little of Adam’s role as his frenemy on the show.
“Expect Gwen to spar a bit with Blake,” the insider said, claiming that “executives have encouraged her to do so.”
As The Voice fans will already know, despite being close friends, Blake and Adam have famously been frenemies on the show during the 16 seasons they sat alongside one another. They constantly took playful jabs at each another while both served as coaches over the past eight years.
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Notably, as The Inquisitr reported last month, fans have already gotten a sneak peek at the couple going head to head. A teaser for the upcoming season showed Gwen gloating after seemingly blocking Blake from getting an act during the Blind Auditions rounds.
“Why are you doing this to me? I thought you loved me!” Blake told his longtime girlfriend in the clip.
Adam quit his role as a coach on the singing show earlier this year, despite NBC previously announcing that he would be back for Season 17 alongside Blake, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson.
It was then announced soon after that Gwen would be replacing him, after which The Inquisitr noted that Blake admitted he was “worried” about the idea of not having his longtime co-coach on the show with him for the second round of 2019, kicking off on September 23.
“I have to say that it worries me not having Adam there, because he’s been there from the beginning,” the “God’s Country” star said, per Pop Culture, though also made it pretty clear that he was happy to have his girlfriend back for another round of the NBC show.
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“The one thing that makes it better and okay is that they brought Gwen [Stefani] in,” Blake continued. “Not just because [of] Gwen’s and my relationship – it’s because she’s a veteran of that show. Also, she’s familiar with it, gets it, and that made me feel better.”
The Voice Season 17 will return with Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, John Legend, and Kelly Clarkson on NBC on September 23.