Blake Shelton Jokes Kelly Clarkson ‘Finally’ Got Him ‘Fired’ From ‘The Voice’

Blake Shelton is entering his final season of The Voice, and he’s doing it with good humor. During the country singer’s Monday night (Feb. 27) appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he opened up about stepping away from the long-running singing competition, and how the show has affected his touring — but not without cracking a joke first.

“Kelly [Clarkson] finally got me fired. I wanted to announce that here,” he laughed of his fellow coach, who also has her eponymous talk show on the same network. “NBC stands for Nothing But Clarkson.”

As for the impact the show has had on his work as a musician? “I don’t tour that much anymore. Part of the reason is because we produce so much work on The Voice,” Shelton revealed. “It’s two seasons a year every year, and so it’s kinda limited me on how much I can tour. I’ve never been one of those guys that just hits the road for a long time anyway, but we only do, like, 18 tour dates a year.”

And as for the eight-time Grammy nominee’s relationship with Voice host Carson Daly? “Somebody asked me earlier, they go, ‘Is Carson upset that you’re leaving The Voice?'” the country star shared. “And I go, ‘Carson is upset about everything all the time anyways.’ He is the grumpiest guy.” (Shelton won’t have to miss Daly much; the two star opposite each other in Barmageddon.)

In a separate interview with TODAY earlier on Monday, Shelton revealed that he initially intended to leave The Voice in 2020. “I think I was close to calling it a day right when COVID hit,” he explained. “And then, because of COVID, I didn’t want to walk away from the show and leave everybody in a bind. I mean, this show changed my life. I’ll stay here until the world kind of gets back to normal again.”

When Shelton takes his final bow on season 23 of The Voice — which kicks off March 6 — Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper will join as coaches. Clarkson will continue to sit in one of the red chairs.

Watch Shelton discuss The Voice with Kimmel in the video above.