Is Blake Shelton a bully? 'The Voice' veteran told Nick Jonas ‘you’re going to get your butt kicked’
‘The Voice’ Season 20 is in its full form and the judges Blake Shelton, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson are having a gala time while picking the best contestant for their respective teams. The newest addition to the singing reality show is Nick Jonas who replaced Season 19 judge Gwen Stefani to take over the big red chair.
For the unversed, Nick Jonas previously acted as the coach in Season 18 before departing in Season 19. The ‘Spaceman’ hitmaker, who is the youngest coach, is very popular among the viewers but he also makes headlines for his hilarious rivalry with the ‘The Voice’ veteran Blake Shelton. Nick, on different occasions, has also dubbed the latter as a “bully.”
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Is Blake Shelton a bully?
The legendary country musician, who is the original coach since the show’s inception in 2011, has seven wins to his credit whereas the Jonas Brothers member still needs to debut as a winner on the singing reality show. If we recap to Season 18, there were a few funny incidents of Jonas getting bullied but when the latter left the show after Season 18, the rumours got a little intense. Even before Season 18 started, Blake Shelton started hazing Nick Jonas when it was announced that Gwen Stefani was leaving ‘The Voice’ and Jonas has been roped in as her replacement. Shelton had then promised he would “bully” the rookie coach.
‘You’re going to get your butt kicked’
When Jonas landed on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ to make the big announcement of him signing Season 18 of ‘The Voice’, the remaining coaches made videos welcoming him where according to CheatSheet, Shelton had said, “Nick Jonas! How you doin’, buddy? I heard that you’re going to be a new coach on 'The Voice' and I wanted to say congratulations I guess. I’m going to have to look through the rules because this is my TV show. I’m not even sure if you’re old enough to be a coach on 'The Voice', but I’m certain that you’re going to get your butt kicked, buddy.”
And, when the competition started, the 'bullying' was visible when on one occasion, Shelton called Nick Jonas a “sucky” coach. According to Country Living, John Legend while talking about a contestant named Joanna, said, “I'm grateful to him (Nick) because he had a four-chair turn named Joanna and he didn't pick her. She's on my team now.” Blake Shelton had then interrupted with a playful jab saying, “I don't think Nick has really gotten the grasp [of The Voice]. He's a great guy. He's a great artist. But he is a sucky coach.”
Nick Jonas had also addressed the bullying and taunting rumours and had stated to Variety, “I think any time you have a new guy, you can expect to be a little bit of a target. But Blake is very good at doing his Blake thing. Contrary to his public comments about bullying me as the new guy, we have a lot of fun together and found a really good dynamic early on. I think the show only works when everyone’s having a good time, and Blake really sets that tone for the rest of us.” Interestingly, Nick Jonas' team member Thunderstorm Artis had come in a close second right behind Blake Shelton's team member Todd Tilghman in the Season 18 finale.
The bullying game continues
Cut to the announcement of Season 20 during the Season 19 finale when it was revealed that Jonas will be making a comeback to the show. Speaking on the same lines, Shelton then told ET Canada, “I mean, it's kind of sucky having Nick back as a coach. I mean, he already had one chance to prove himself. He failed miserably." Also, between a flashback clip of Nick Jonas coaching from Season 18, Shelton quipped, “Out of fairness, I guess, the network wants to give this kid another opportunity to prove himself. It's embarrassing for Nick, I think.”
Nick Jonas gives it back
Looks like after competing with Blake Shelton in Season 18, the youngest 'The Voice' coach learned his lesson and got a few tricks up his sleeves for Season 20. Speaking to ET Canada in the same video, he stated, “My last season, after getting to the finale and losing to Blake, that hurt. The second thing I have to prove this year is, I'm the youngest coach on this panel... it was really exciting to hear people underestimate me as a coach and to give them something to root for. So to all the new Team Nick fans out there, I want to say 'thank you' and I want to make you proud.”
If we talk about Episode two of Season 20, Blake Shelton blocked Nick Jonas before he could pick the contestant Gean Garcia. But, the 28-year-old crooner was not having it this time as he decided to give it back to Shelton. “I thought they were gonna play nice. Turns out, Blake's a bully.” The country legend then claimed, “I didn't even realize you got blocked! If I did, it was an accident.” In a nutshell, either Shelton sees Nick Jonas as a strong competitor or maybe he is bummed about the fact he is not getting to coach alongside his fiancee Gwen Stefani.
‘The Voice’ airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
