After months and months of waiting to learn how The Voice’s coaching lineup would shake out for the upcoming season, which skipped the usual spring cycle for 2022, fans now know what new and familiar faces will be around Blake Shelton in the new episodes. Hours after Gwen Stefani was confirmed to be returning as a replacement for Ariana Grande, it was revealed that fan-fave and multi-champ Kelly Clarkson will indeed be bowing out amid suspicion that she would be devoting more time to her talk show’s redevelopment. But thankfully, we already know who was tapped to replace Clarkson.
Former show mentor and Cinderella star Camila Cabello has been tapped to take over the fourth chair for Season 22 in lieu of Kelly Clarkson. The pop star helped break the news on TikTok with a video that The Voice shared on Twitter, which helped make things fully official. Check it out!
Give a warm welcome to your Voice Coaches. 💗 #TheVoice returns this fall with @blakeshelton, @johnlegend, @gwenstefani and @Camila_Cabello. pic.twitter.com/w06rCalAF9May 15, 2022
Fans will almost definitely remember that Camila Cabello lent her pop-friendly expertise to The Voice in Season 21 when she served as the Battle Round advisor for John Legend's team. That certainly wasn't her only past experience with a reality singing competition, considering she first struck fame in the UK via The X Factor, where she and others formed the popular group Fifth Harmony, before she exited in 2016.
It's been a big year so far for Camila Cabello, who was already coming off of a successful 2021 as the star of the live-action Cinderella musical for Amazon's Prime Video. Her third studio album, Familia, was released to acclaim in April, along with a virtual concert on TikTok. She's set to tour with Coldplay later this year, and will also be performing for the UEFA Champions League Final with a medley of her hits. Not to mention she also made her Saturday Night Live debut in Season 47 as a musical guest for the Jake Gyllenhaal-hosted episode, where she performed both "Bam Bam" and "Psychofreak," with Willow Smith joining the fun for the latter.
Immediate responses to the news that Camila Cabello will be replacing Kelly Clarkson have been pretty split down the middle, at least when it comes to the comments lurking beneath The Voice's official post. While there thankfully aren't many apparent posts slamming Cabello herself, a variety of fans have expressed major disappointment that Clarkson won't be back, and several shared the opinion that they probably won't watch the next season, and will only return for Season 23 if the pop-country singer herself is back in one of the big red chairs.
To be sure, there are just as many fans who are pumped to see what Camila Cabello will bring to The Voice, even if they'll also be missing Kelly Clarkson in the same breath. And then there are others who don't seem too perturbed by who else is involved, and are mainly pleased to see Cabello's star rising.
The Voice has yet to reveal when it will return for Season 22, but fans can expect to see it hitting the NBC schedule later this year, with episodes available to stream next day for those with Hulu subscriptions.
