Gwen Stefani isn’t the only one missing Blake Shelton on season 24 of The Voice — his fake TV son is taking it pretty hard, too!
Niall Horan forged a semi-unlikely friendship with Blake last season, and between dressing up as the country star, trying to impersonate his accent, and picking up some of his old tricks, it’s been hard for Gwen not to sympathize.
“Niall, I have to say — our son — it ends up that I love him,” Gwen told ET’s Cassie DiLaura with a laugh of working with the Irish singer for the first time this season. “We had so much fun in the Blinds together. He’s funny, he’s kind of a little Blake-ish, you know?”
“He’s super awesome, he’s talented, funny, cute, has a cute accent,” she raved. “He’s my mom’s new favorite, like, everyone fell in love with him last season.”
However, that hasn’t stopped Gwen from stepping in for her hubby to take over teasing poor Niall on the show.
“Blake used to come home and be like, ‘Oh Niall, I love that kid. I love that kid,’ she recalled. “I do get it, [but] my whole joke is, Niall will be like, ‘Oh I love Blake’ or whatever, and I’m like, ‘Well, it’s weird because Blake never mentioned you one time. Never, like you’re actually nonexistent in our house.'”
Joking aside, Gwen says she understands why Niall — and Voice fans everywhere — are missing Blake in the first season since he left the show earlier this year.
“Let’s face it: Blake, he’s such a huge part of what this show [has become],” she marveled. “I mean, he is The Voice, in so many ways, so it does definitely feel weird to be back without him.”
However, it’s not like season 24 is lacking a major country presence. Musical icon Reba McEntire stepped in for Blake, taking over his chair and landing many of the season’s country hopefuls.
“That was like scary for me, ’cause like, Queen of Country,” Gwen admitted. “She deserves all the respect… Like, how do you like fight against her?”
“We ended up going all out to dinner before [the season] to just kind of have that gel moment,” she recalled of meeting Reba, alongside Niall and fellow season 24 coach John Legend. “It’s been amazing and an honor, obviously, to get to know her and there’s still more to go. Like, I still get to know her more.”
For Gwen, who’s reaching veteran status in her seventh season as a Voice coach, the best part of the show has always been sharing that creative connection with her team members and being able to help them along in their respective musical journeys.
“Everybody has their life story, and I just love to be able to help,” she shared. “[It’s] also inspiring for me to be around so much music on the show and so much talent. It helps me in my own creative world, just to be on this show. I think anybody that’s coached has said that.”
The Voice airs Mondays at 8 p.m. PT and Tuesdays at 9 p.m. PT on NBC.
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