Country superstar Reba McEntire is having a blast on season 26 of “The Voice,” but whether she’ll ever return to the show remains to be seen.
NBC previously revealed that McEntire, whose new sitcom on the network, “Happy’s Place,” premieres on October 18, won’t return for season 27. During an October 2024 interview with Us Weekly, the country queen did not give a direct answer when the magazine staff brought up “speculation” that this is her last season on “The Voice.”
When asked if there’s “any truth to that,” McEntire tiptoed around the question by simply saying, “I love ‘The Voice.’ I love being a part of the NBC family with ‘Happy’s Place.’ I’m having the time of my life.”
Reba McEntire May Not Have Had Time to Film Season 27 of ‘The Voice’
McEntire first joined “The Voice” for season 24, in the fall of 2023, replacing longtime coach and fellow country star Blake Shelton. She then returned for season 25, which she won with team member Asher HaVon.
But in June, NBC announced that season 27 of “The Voice” will not include McEntire as a coach. That season, which will air during the first half of 2025, features returning coaches Adam Levine, John Legend, and Michael Bublé (who’s currently on season 26), with country star Kelsea Ballerini getting her first full-time coaching gig on the show.
McEntire has not addressed why she isn’t returning for a fourth season, but the demanding schedule may have been an issue, since the season 27 foursome filmed their Blind Auditions over the summer, per Parade. Levine posted a photo on July 19 of the foursome, writing that they had just finished their first week of taping together.
McEntire already had a busy summer ahead filming season 26 and her new sitcom. On July 11, NBC shared video of the season 26 coaches during a photo shoot as they filmed their upcoming season. Meanwhile, McEntire’s new sitcom began filming on August 1, co-star Melissa Peterman shared on Instagram.
Reba McEntire is Loving Her Fellow Season 26 Coaches on ‘The Voice’
During season 26, which premiered on September 23, she’s having a particularly good time with her fellow coaches — returning coach Gwen Stefani and newcomers Bublé and Snoop Dogg, who was brought to tears on the season premiere when McEntire used the new Coach Replay button to save contestant Kendall Eugene, whom she didn’t originally turn her chair around for.
“Oh, he’s a pussycat,” she told Us Weekly of Snoop. “He’s so much fun. And he does get very emotional. He gets involved. So yeah, I was handing him quite a few Kleenexes.”
“Snoop in his own lane,” she continued. “He is different from anyone I’ve ever run into, and everybody loves him. He’s a really great addition.”
“With Michael Bublé,” McEntire told Us Weekly, “he’s just the biggest-hearted, biggest kid. I love him with all my heart. He’s so much fun to work with, to play with and we’re having a blast on ‘The Voice’ because of him. Gwen and I laugh our butts off at him. He and Gwen are good buddies.”
The coaches are enamored with McEntire, too, with Snoop even giving her a new nickname because of her ability to attract great contestants to her team.
“She’s a magnet for talent,” Snoop said in a promo for the show. “She says all the right things… Reba Magnet-tire, that’s what we call her on the set.”
“She doesn’t even have to say nothing sometimes,” he added, “like, sometimes people just come on (her team) just to be with her.”
While building her team during the Blind Auditions, which wrap up on October 15, McEntire has frequently reminded season 26 contestants that she won the previous season. She told Us Weekly she thinks she could win again.
She told the outlet, “I could! My team is very, very strong.”
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