On The Voice, Gwen Stefani delivered Blake Shelton a heartfelt farewell.
Several family members, including Shelton’s wife Stefani, paid homage to him on his farewell show after 23 seasons of The Voice on Tuesday night’s season finale.
Stefani reflected on their romance in a lovely video that included gathered footage of their love story, which grew on the competition program after they first connected in 2014 after their respective divorces.
“Who would’ve thought this Orange County girl and this country guy from Oklahoma would fall in love with each other on the set of The Voice,” the 53-year-old “Cool” singer said of Shelton, 46. “Our lives were experiencing parallel destruction when I first joined the show, and the next thing I know, Blake and I are starting to become best friends and fall in love.”
“It’s difficult for me to even speak about finding my soulmate without feeling very emotional. The most bizarre result of my appearance on The Voice with Blake was that I started performing country music.
After 23 seasons, she said, “He has really altered people’s lives. Although The Voice will continue, Blake’s legacy will endure forever. I first encountered Blake Shelton thanks to The Voice, and my life has never been the same since. We love you, Blake, and I’ll see you at home. Have a nice finish.
The singer of “Sangria” had earlier that day shared a reflective Instagram post about his stint on the competition program.
“Can’t believe it’s been 23 seasons of @nbcthevoice… and especially can’t believe today is my final episode,” Shelton wrote as the caption for a gallery of images featuring him on the program throughout the years.
“It’s sweet and sour. I doubt any of us imagined what this would turn out to be when we joined up for season 1… I’ve created memories and lifetime friends during the last 12 years. I’ve had the wonderful chance to teach several really talented performers, nine of them have brought home #TeamBlake victories (let’s make it ten tonight? ), and to see these performers develop tremendously as a result of the show.
“Thank you to everyone, the crew, the coaches, the competitors, the fans, and my wife who have made these some really great years,” he said in his closing statement. Love you all very much.
A video clip shown at the finale showed that Stefani had Shelton’s red chair from the show transported to their house.
Even though Team Niall’s Gina Miles defeated Team Blake’s Grace West to win the championship, the season finale was packed with farewells for the country singer.
Shelton received warm wishes for his new endeavor from friends and former mentors including Adam Levine and Dolly Parton. The season 2 champion Jermaine Paul was among his previous competitors who returned to the event for a special performance and exclaimed, “We’ll always choose you Blake.”
Carson Daly, the host, honored Shelton in the same way a “athlete” would by retiring the “Blake jean jacket,” which has the nine seasons in which he won the competition written on the back.
Shelton made his exit from the show official in October. He told PEOPLE in December that although he was thinking about the next stage of his musical career, he wanted to spend more time with Stefani and his stepsons.
Shelton has participated on the program for 23 straight seasons and has amassed nine victories since its premiere in 2011.
