Adam Levine Shared The Worst Part Of His Return To The Voice, And Of Course It Included A Blake Shelton Insult

Fans have certainly had a lot of thoughts about Adam Levine’s return to The Voice, as Season 27 nears the end of its Blind Auditions on the 2025 TV schedule. The “She Will Be Loved” singer has great chemistry with fellow coaches John Legend, Kelsea Ballerini and Michael Bublé (they even have a group chat, guys). However, there’s just one thing Levine’s not happy about, he said, and of course it involves his old rival Blake Shelton.

As fun as it is to see Adam Levine bonding with the other coaches on The Voice, there’s a part of me that misses the snippy insults launched back and forth between him and Blake Shelton over the competition’s first 16 seasons. But just because the cowboy is retired from the show doesn’t mean he’s not catching strays. Levine proved that old habits die hard when talking to Kelsea Ballerini during the February 24 episode. The new coach revealed that she’d been warned about Levine, telling him:

First of all, it’s absolutely hilarious to think that Blake Shelton would tell Kelsea Ballerini that in any serious context, and Adam Levine apparently felt the same way. He thanked her for the compliment but suggested there was no way Shelton really meant that. He said:

Adam Levine kind of went from suggesting Blake Shelton wouldn’t actually say something negative about him to joking that the country music star was a bad person. The Maroon 5 frontman had similar sentiments ahead of filming. When news broke of Levine’s impending return, he trolled the cowboy by saying the best part of coming back for Season 27 was that he wouldn’t have to deal with Shelton.

So if that’s the best part, what’s the worst part? Adam Levine told Kelsea Ballerini:

Ah yes, Adam Levine has taken over Blake Shelton’s old chair — which has become the most revered spot on the panel, previously held only by the “Boys ‘Round Here” singer and Reba McEntire. Levine made another contradictory comment about Shelton on the season premiere, admitting to John Legend that when he walked on stage, he’d initially started heading to his old spot, which he vacated after Season 16. As he took his place in his new chair, he mused:

It seems pretty obvious that that’s just how the two singers show their love for one another. Blake Shelton also continued to fire shots at Adam Levine long after the rocker left the show, but it was nothing but love when Levine returned for Shelton’s final episode.

The days of Adam Levine and Blake Shelton being on set together are likely gone for good, but it looks like the insults back and forth aren’t going anywhere. Tune in to see Levine bring his legacy of winning back to The Voice, with new episodes airing at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on NBC and streaming the next day with a Peacock subscription.