Blake Shelton was on fire (at least comedically) when he visited The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, finding a way to brutally rip in to both his past and present rivals on The Voice. Although the cowboy has said that getting married to Gwen Stefani has made him softer, we shouldn’t underestimate the OG coach. He’s still found ways to roast fellow coach Kelly Clarkson during The Voice’s 21st season, as well as his past coaching nemesis Adam Levine. But in speaking to Fallon, Shelton knocked them both down in one fell insult swoop, which is a new level even for him.
Former Voice star Adam Levine — who recently clarified his facial tattoo situation in a hilarious message to his mother — and Blake Shelton had an intense bromance that turned them into frenemies during the first 16 seasons of the NBC mainstay. Since the Maroon 5 frontman's exit in 2019, it’s been Kelly Clarkson who’s consistently gone toe to toe (or boot to boot?) with the country music star. Shelton dragged them both on The Tonight Show, telling Jimmy Fallon why he was concerned for Clarkson’s artists this season.
While Kelly is a great person, and an incredible artist and a great talk show host, she is hands down the worst coach we've ever heard on The Voice in 21 seasons of doing the show. The worst we've ever had. [Pauses after being asked about Adam Levine] She is the SECOND worst coach that we’ve ever had on this show for sure, without question.
Blake Shelton has been ruthless to Kelly Clarkson this season, calling into question the American Idol champion’s knowledge of country music. And just when you thought he'd pulled off the gloves and threw her in the gauntlet all alone, Jimmy Fallon's request for Levine-esque clarification inspired Shelton to throw his former co-star under the bus, and without even saying his name.
But fans are kind of loving the dynamic that Shelton and Clarkson have going, and that’s partly because of the real-life friendship they have formed in the latter’s three years on The Voice. It’s also because the talk show host is such a worthy opponent for the country superstar. The Voice’s newest coach Ariana Grande was quick to point out early in Season 21 that while Blake Shelton does have the most wins of any coach on the NBC singing competition (eight wins in 20 seasons for a 40% success rate), Kelly Clarkson is actually the more successful coach, with three wins in seven seasons for a 43% win rate.
And speaking of Ariana Grande, don’t think Blake Shelton let her off easy. Shelton joked about how emotional being a coach has been for the pop star, who understandably gets upset when members of her team are eliminated. The Voice star told Jimmy Fallon that he tries to help her put the losses into perspective.
I have to tell her after every episode if she has somebody go home, it’s like, you know they didn’t send them to, like, the alligator pit or something, Ariana.
But there’s no doubt Ariana can hold her own against “Grandpa” Blake Shelton, as proven when she recently trolled him while he was on stage with wife Gwen Stefani. You can check out the Tonight Show clip below!
All of the ribbing is part of what makes The Voice so much fun to watch, and that joy will continue at 8 p.m. Monday, December 6, with the Semifinal performances on NBC. Check out our 2021 TV Schedule to see what else is happening through the end of the year.
