Kelly Clarkson is revealing how she’s been getting along with her fellow The Voice coaches Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, and Alicia Keys ahead of the Season 14 premiere on February 26, and it turns out there’s already been a little fighting between the musicians.
Clarkson opened up about her relationship with her fellow coaches and how she’s been building her team on the NBC show in a new interview, where she revealed that the foursome most definitely have a friendly rivalry because she’s pretty “threatening” when it comes to building her team.
Speaking to Parade , Clarkson revealed that the person she’s been butting heads with most so far on the series is actually longtime friend Blake, as she revealed that the country singer put up quite a fight while trying to attract all the country artists auditioning during the blind audition rounds earlier this year to Team Blake.
Admitting that she had to “freaking fight” Gwen Stefani’s boyfriend to get acts on her team during the blind auditions, Clarkson admitted that many contestants “think they’re betraying country music when they don’t pick him.”
However, Kelly still managed to get at least one country act on her team despite the “I’ll Name The Dogs” singer – who’s manager is Clarkson’s husband Brandon Blackstock – battling hard. “We did [get country artists], but it was really hard. It’s a really hard thing to navigate when he’s been on there for 14 seasons.”
But it’s not just Shelton who’s playfully been giving her a hard time, as the “Love So Soft” singer told the outlet that he and Adam have been teaming up together on The Voice set to poke a little fun at her by pointing out that she’s the newbie on the set, as Alicia previously appeared on seasons 11 and 12.
“I always laugh when Blake and Adam are like, ‘Well, it’s your first time.’ I’m like, ‘It really isn’t,’” Kelly said, referring to winning the first ever season of American Idol back in 2002 as well as her appearance as a judge on ABC’s now canceled singing show, Duets .
And when Shelton and Levine, who have appeared on every single episode of The Voice since it began in 2011, get a little too rowdy and start to tease her, the Grammy winner claimed that she hits back, “‘I’ve really been doing this longer than you’” because she’s been in the business for such a long time following her big win on the former Fox show.
But it seems like she’s not letting Levine and Shelton’s playful teasing get to her. “It’s cool. They always like to pick at me, so I’m cool with it, that means I’m threatening,” Kelly teased.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jeWKmpsF3g&t=4s
As for who’s been the hardest coach to compete with so far, Kelly admitted in the new interview that it’s not actually Blake who’s been her biggest competition. According to the singer, it’s Alicia she’s been having the toughest time with because everyone seems to want to join Team Alicia.
“Alicia’s probably the hardest one to beat as far as getting people on your team,” she said of the star, who joked earlier this week that she was returning to her chair to put Blake “in his place” after he won the competition with Chloe Kohanski in December.
“I can see why a lot of people pick her,” Kelly added of Keys attracting so many contestants to her team.
Clarkson also revealed during the new interview that all of this year’s The Voice coaches have a competitive streak, which means fans can expect a whole lot of banter between her, Alicia, Blake, and Adam when the show returns next month.
“We’re a very fun, feisty bunch. All four of us are competitive, in a good way,” Kelly said. “We’re excited and still passionate as artists and we’re competitive and we’re all four, very talented and just very different.”
Clarkson’s latest confessions come shortly after she revealed that Shelton had also been poking a whole lot of fun at her on the set because she was so nervous the first time she sat in her red spinning chair.
The Voice Season 14 is set to premiere with a two-hour episode on February 26 on NBC.