The Voice US

Season 15 M-Net (*101) 19:00 Reality

More often than not, country singer Blake Shelton has been the voice-of-reason judge on talent show The Voice US (2011- current) and being the elder statesman suits the 42-year-old down to the bone. “This show is so much fun because we’re seeing 16-year-olds out here singing songs that I wouldn’t be able to sing now. But I have industry experience that I can share. So it’s give and take and that’s a bunch of fun.”

He’s been making music for 38 years after his uncle taught him to sing and play guitar aged four. It took him eight years to record his first song though when he moved to Nashville as a 17-year-old “because I sounded like trash,” Blake says with a laugh. He turns down shampoo endorsements because he makes his own, which he revealed in 2017 after being voted People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive: a mix of eggs and tomato sauce that is rinsed off after five minutes. Blake wasn’t always good looking – he had a mullet and skew teeth in high school and wore glasses. The singer runs a ranch in Tishomingo, Oklahoma where he has a bar business called Ole Red and raises livestock and poultry. It’s also where he buried his favourite pet in 2003 – his turkey that he named Turkey. He admits that drinking vodka on TV as a toast to divorcing singer Miranda Lambert in 2015 lacked tact. Blake has been dating singer Gwen Stefani (she was a Voice coach in seasons 7 to 12) since 2016 and says that apart from improving his singing, she’s helped him appreciate wine more. NB! See p35 for more on The Voice SA.