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‘The Voice’ alum accidentally joins 'fake' singing contest — and loses $10K: 'I signed up to...'

The singer received an email to join a new HBO singing competition, but unfortunately, it turned out to be 'fake'.

‘The Voice’ contestant Lana Love showcased her unique singing prowess, prompting coach John Legend to turn his chair in season 22. Although the other judges didn’t turn for Love, they had nothing but praise for the 30-year-old Glendale native. “You showed so many different sides to your voice, and for a blind audition, that’s very strategic in a good way,” coach Gwen Stefani told her. Camila Cabello also loved the contestant’s rendition of Mandy Moore's ‘Candy.’ Love was ultimately eliminated after losing to Omar Jose Cardona in the battle round. She wrapped her short and sweet journey on ‘The Voice’ and didn’t know what awaited her.

Months later, Love received an email to join a new HBO singing competition, and it seemed like the perfect next step at the time. Unfortunately, it turned out to be 'fake'. The so-called singing show that Love had signed on for was called ‘Wings of Voice’, but it wasn’t a real competition. Love realized that it was a mock singing show created as part of comedian Nathan Fielder’s series, ‘The Rehearsal.’ However, nobody gave her the complete context before, and the show ended up costing her $10,000. “I signed up to be a singer, not a lab rat,” she told Variety.

‘The Voice’ contestant revealed that she also nearly lost $10K as she had to pay for her hair, makeup, travel, and hotel expenses, which cost her around $5,500. Additionally, she lost $4,000 by canceling her voice lessons to participate in the show. “I’m legally not allowed to have this conversation with you right now, because I signed an NDA,” she told the outlet. Yet she didn’t hide her frustration and didn’t seem too worried about HBO finding out. “They don’t really have ground to stand on,” Love said about the network. 

She also called other contestants to inform them that ‘Wings of Voice’ was fake and that she was planning to draft a letter to shut down the production. ‘The Voice’ alum alleged that the other participants pleaded with her not to expose the show. “I don’t care if the show is fake, I still want to do it. It could still be my big break,” she recounted, another girl having begged. “I thought to myself, ‘You can’t expose the show. You can’t take away someone else’s dream. You’ll save your piece for another day,'” Love explained. She admitted to having mixed feelings about the bizarre experience.

Ultimately, she felt that she did the right thing by standing up for the artists’ rights. She also observed that the other contestants weren’t treated with “basic human respect.” “We still have to go for our dream with our full heart, even if the game is rigged,” she added. ‘The Voice’ recently wrapped its 27th season, in which Adam David from team Michael Bublé won the trophy. It’s now headed into season 28 with returning coach Bublé, fan favorite Niall Horan, Snoop Dogg, and Reba McEntire.