Blake Shelton Opens Up About ‘Weird’ Time On ‘The Voice’ Without Adam Levine

Blake Shelton spoke out about his “weird” time on The Voice without his longtime co-coach Adam Levine by his side after the Maroon 5 frontman announced his departure from the show in May. In a new interview with Extra, the country star admitted that he was finding it pretty strange to be back on the NBC talent search without Levine for the very first time in 17 seasons.

“It’s weird to not have Adam here, because I don’t know who to be mad at,” Shelton jokingly explained to the site during a joint interview with fellow coach Kelly Clarkson.

The “God’s Country” singer then corrected himself as he chatted to the outlet with Clarkson, quipping as he referred to the American Idol Season 1 winner, “I have found somebody to direct most of it towards.”

But while things may be “weird” for Shelton as the brand new season gears up to start airing on NBC on September 23, he reiterated what he stated in a previous interview this week – that he and Levine are still on great terms and enjoyed a lengthy FaceTime call just last week.

“I am just as much in contact with Adam as the first season on the show,” he admitted, adding of their 45-minute long call, “We had a lot to catch up on.”

But while he may be missing Levine, Shelton added in the new interview that he’s still been having a whole lot of fun with his fellow coaches. This year’s line-up is made up of Kelly, John Legend, and Adam’s replacement, Shelton’s girlfriend Gwen Stefani.

“This has been crazy-fun to me. There is no way around it – it’s weird to not have Adam here, but at the same time, the four of us clicked, it’s so much fun it’s actually scary,” he said. “Can it be this easy?”

A recent sneak peek showed that he’s not exactly dialing it back when it comes to the new season of the competition.

The teaser showed the country superstar boasting about being the last original coach standing as he told Legend that The Voice is “my show” and that he’s the one who wrote Legend’s win last season into the imaginary script.

“I am the King of The Voice!” Shelton said, adding that he thinks he’s the “champion of champions” as the only coach to stay on with the show since it first began back in 2011.

Season 17 of The Voice is set to debut on NBC on September 23.