Why Christina Aguilera will never return to 'The Voice': Star left after feud with fellow judge
UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA: Christina Aguilera won't be seated in one of the recognizable red seats from 'The Voice' ever again. With Adam Levine making a comeback with Season 27, fans wonder what is holding back the 43-year-old singer from returning.
Christina joined Blake Shelton, Adam, and CeeLo Green as a coach for the first season of 'The Voice' and continued for five more seasons, from 2011 to 2016. With her competitor, singer Alisan Porter, Christina became the first female coach to win the popular NBC competition series 2016.
Later, she posted a lovely video of herself rejoicing about the win with Adam and Blake on Snapchat. The video was recorded during brighter times on the show.
Christina was praised after appearing on the show for so many seasons. Then an odd thing happened: Christina was never seen on the show again.
There are rumors that it has to do with Christina and Blake's supposed falling out. Christina was reportedly offended by Blake's desire for his new girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, to continue on the show.
Blake and Adam are good friends, and Adam supported Gwen throughout this contentious 'The Voice' period. This scenario emphasizes how crucial the relationships between coaches are on shows like 'The Voice', where they play a major role in the appeal.
A main character falling out can upset the equilibrium and detract from the general harmony of the show, which might reduce audience interest. It also highlights the difficulties that producers encounter when trying to keep a cohesive and appealing team dynamic for the public while negotiating and making concessions to manage a popular show's cast.
Christina asserted, however, that Blake's developing connection with Gwen was not the reason she left in an interview with W magazine. Regarding her supposed conflict with the "No Doubt" singer, she exclaimed, "Oh my God, no!"
"No, it never had anything to do with any one person at all. And, I actually think it's really cute, Blake and Gwen found love in that chaotic environment."
"I fought for a long time to get two females in the chairs. And, for a long time, I was just told it wasn't the demographic," Christina continued. "But just know that I was a fighter behind the scenes."
Christina Aguilera felt restricted on 'The Voice'
The singer gave Billboard an honest interview in which she expressed her disapproval of the popular NBC singing competition.
In an interview with the magazine, Christina described her experience as becoming "something that I didn't feel was what I had signed up for in season one. You realize it’s not about music. It’s about making good TV moments and massaging a story."
The GRAMMY-winning vocalist claimed that being on the show made her feel constrained.
“I didn't get into this business to be a television show host and to be given all these [rules],” she stated. “Especially as a female: You can’t wear this, can’t say that. I would find myself on that show, desperately trying to express myself through clothing makeup or hair. It was my only kind of outlet.”
Christina Aguilera calls 'The Voice' 'energy sucker'
Christina called the show an energy sucker. “I was longing for freedom," she conveyed.
“[Coming home from set] I would just take everything off -- the makeup, all of it -- and would blast hip-hop, or Nirvana, ‘Creep,’ Slayer. Anything like that to get me out of that zone, that TV mode.”
Meanwhile, a show source told PEOPLE, "Christina was an incredibly valuable member of 'The Voice' for many seasons, and we appreciate all she did for the show. She’ll always be a part of 'The Voice' family."
Christina Aguilera dubs experience on 'The Voice' a 'money-making machine'
Christina compared working on six seasons with CeeLo, Adam, and Blake to "such a hamster wheel" in the same interview with W magazine. As she went on, "Things really started to shift and change."
"I signed on to a show where the blind audition element was something interesting, something genuine. After a while, though, you start to see that everyone is good-looking," the pop music icon said.
"It wasn't a comfortable place for me to be, where I'm just part of a money-making machine. When I stop believing in something, then it's like, 'What am I doing here?' I think I did choose to, no pun intended, take a chair for so long and do something very commercial for my little ones. But at a certain point, I felt like I'm not even doing them a service by cheating myself and what I'm here to do. They should be seeing Mommy live her best life."
'The Voice’ Season 26 will begin on NBC on Monday, September 23, 2024, at 8 PM ET. The season will be available for streaming on Peacock the next day