Why Blake Shelton is leaving The Voice as he steps into a 'more important job' with Gwen Stefani

Blake Shelton's final episode of the voice aired on Monday night and the star reiterated time and time again that this was his last season, but why is Blake Shelton leaving The Voice?

It was announced at the end of 2022 that after being one of the original four coaches on The Voice, Blake Shelton is stepping away from The Voice after 12 years.

The four original Voice coaches were Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and CeeLo Green, and each of the coaches left the show after a few seasons. However, Blake stayed on for more than a decade. He even met his now wife Gwen Stefani, when the pair worked as rival coaches on the show together.

As the star emphasized a number of times on Monday night's show, he is officially leaving The Voice, but why is this his final season? Here's why Blake Shelton is leaving The Voice.

It has been revealed that Blake Shelton is stepping back as a coach on The Voice in order to focus on his family. Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton's relationship began in 2015 and in 2021, the pair tied the knot.

Blake has explained that his step-children and wife are now his priority. "I think being a stepdad has changed my perspective in that I’m not the first person that I think about anymore. Even to the smallest little things when you go, ‘I think I’ll do this,’ the very next thought is always, ‘Well, wait a minute. How’s that going work?' Or, 'What will they think?' Or, 'How will that affect a schedule?'" Blake told Access.

"I think the only way for me to really do that right is to step away from being committed to something like The Voice that demands a lot of your time. There’s no way around it. If you’re going to do it and do it right, you have to be 150 percent in. And I just feel like those days are behind me for now. I got a more important job." 

Speaking about how The Voice has affected his life, Blake said, "I met my wife at The Voice, which is the greatest thing that I'll take away. It completely changed my career and my trajectory, I was a country artist that was having some hits on the radio and having some success, things were going great. But to step into that role in The Voice right when it was taking off, and being a part of that, it just took my career to another level, that I didn't even know was possible for me, and it completely changed my life in that way too."

If you want to watch Blake's last season (season 23) working as a coach The Voice, new episodes began airing every Monday and Tuesday night at 20:00 ET/PT from Monday, March 6, 2023.