Blake Shelton has built quite a reputation for himself as a coach on The Voice. While racking up nine wins in his 23 seasons, the country singer has also perfected the art of getting under his fellow coaches’ skin. With his run on the show coming to an end, there’s been some concern about how The Voice will survive without Shelton and the energy he brings to the NBC competition. Well, rest assured, the “No Body” singer can ride off into the sunset worry-free, because Kelly Clarkson just proved she’s got the trolling under control, destroying new coach Niall Horan with the sickest of burns.
Coaches often have a go-to selling point when they’re trying to woo artists. Blake Shelton, for example, informed each singer that they had a chance to be on his final team. Kelly Clarkson, meanwhile, falls back on her experience in singing competitions, as she was the first winner of American Idol back in 2002. But with Niall Horan joining Season 23, she now has some competition in that area, as Horan competed with his One Direction bandmates on The X Factor in 2010. During The Voice’s April 3 episode, the “Since U Been Gone” singer brutally reminded the ex-boybander where he stood, with the following hilarious exchange:
- Kelly: You kind of ruined it a little bit for me, because I’m always the one that’s like, ‘I’ve been in a singing competition.’ And you’ve been in a singing competition, and we, like, we both won.
- Niall: We didn’t win.
- Kelly: What?
- Niall: We didn’t win.
- Kelly: You didn’t win your show?
- Niall: No. Well, we got a medal.
- Kelly: Third place.
- Niall: So you do know where we … Honestly, what is this?
- Kelly: You should lead with, ‘I can help you get to third place.’
That was just ice cold on Kelly Clarkson’s part. She started by commenting that the rookie coach was stepping on her toes a little bit, since they both got their start on competitions similar to The Voice. She sounded genuinely surprised when Niall Horan quietly clarified that One Direction had not, in fact, won their season of The X Factor, but when she admitted to knowing they placed third, Horan realized he was the victim of some next-level trolling.
The job of resident troll has always been filled by Blake Shelton, who even went so far as to troll his own wife, Gwen Stefani, when she returned to The Voice in Season 22.
Kelly Clarkson got one in on the cowboy as well during Monday’s Battle Rounds. When the country superstar was giving feedback on the Team Kelly battle between Holly Brand and Katie Beth Forakis, he admitted it was weird to see a country singer on stage who wasn’t part of his team, and Clarkson quickly responded:
How did it feel when I won twice with them? Was that a weird feeling?
Kelly Clarkson has proven herself to be Blake Shelton’s fiercest competition, winning four of the eight seasons she’s been a part of so far, and it seems she’s ready to take up the mantle on the trolling front as well. Tune in to see if she continues her reign of brutality when The Voice continues at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, April 4, on NBC, and check out our 2023 TV schedule to see what premieres are coming soon.