Blake Shelton is either really, truly angry at Ariana Grande.
Or the guy is a better actor than we realized.
As you may have read about a few days ago, there’s chatter around the Internet that Shelton may be on his way out of The Voice.
Due to the impression addition of Grande to the coaching panel these season, producers have allegedly realized that the show could benefit from an even further injection of young blood — which doesn’t bode well for a veteran such as Blake Shelton.
“After a decade on the show, producers are quietly looking to replace Blake with someone younger and more current,” wrote Radar Online late last week, as the celebrity gossip site quoted an insider as follows:
“Blake is great but he is not in Ariana’s league.”
The country music artist has been on The Voice since April 2011.
He both met his now-wife on the reality competition, Gwen Stefani, and also raised his public profile by an incalculable amount.
And yet: Shelton’s time on the program may be coming to an end, this same report suggests.
“Current top ten artists like Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X, Billie Elish, Olivia Rodrigo, and The Weeknd, were all hesitant about starring on a competition show before Ariana Grande signed on,” claims the Radar source.
“She has changed everything and opened the flood gates to future relevant talent — which isn’t good news for Blake Shelton.”
Now, let’s flash forward to Monday night’s episode of The Voice…
On the latest installment of the NBC show, Shelton and Kelly Clarkson each wanted singer Jeremy Rosado on their team…. and Blake asked for Ariana’s support.
However, she went ahead and chose Team Kelly instead, telling Jeremy:
“You have so many really special parts of your voice. And I think Kelly might be able to help you… I do think Kelly might be the right fit in this case.”
Grande then turned to Shelton and added: “I’m sorry.”
But Blake didn’t wanna hear it.
“I can’t believe Ariana just did that,” Shelton told the camera. “That’s a slap in the face. The friendship is over.”
The singer then interrupted Ariana’s on-camera interview, saying to his rumored rival:
“You stabbed me in the back. I was right there on the edge of the cliff, and you pushed me off.”
Was Shelton just playing up this supposed feud for ratings? For the entertainment value?
Or might he be seriously steamed at Grande?
A recent social media exchange would imply the former.
As you can see above, Shelton actually sent Grande an article over the weekend about rumors of his professional demise headlined Producers at ‘The Voice’ May Replace Blake Shelton After Ariana Grande Brings a ‘Fresh’ Energy.
“Thanks a lot Ari… Thanks a fuckin’ lot,” wrote Blake.
Grande hearted both of her reported foe’s texts, suggesting there’s not actually any issues between music superstars.
Try teling that to Radar Online, though.
“The only way the show remains fresh is by constantly evolving,” concludes the aforementioned source.
“Huge stars that wouldn’t even consider joining the show a few months ago are now thinking again, thanks to Ariana.”