“Does She Fill My Shoes?”: Blake Shelton’s Witty Take On Kelsea Ballerini’s First Season on ‘The Voice’ (Exclusive)

If there are two things Blake Shelton knows about, they’re country music and being on The Voice. Incidentally, he combined those two a lot as the reigning country coach on the show. Safe to say, Shelton definitely knows how to coach future country stars.

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While he joined American Songwriter in the studio recently, he was asked for his thoughts about how first-time coach Kelsea Ballerini is doing on the show. Many consider her the country representative now, after Reba McEntire’s departure. So, has she proved herself worthy of The Voice?

“I love Kelsea, I really do,” said Shelton. “She’s one of my absolute favorites in this business. She’s fun to be around. Does she fill my shoes?” He paused, then, giving a knowing laugh, said, “I don’t think so.” He continued, “I mean, I’m the champ, okay. She’s got a long way to go. Let’s get one win, then we can start talking about how she’s doing filling my shoes.”

Blake Shelton Says “Let’s Get One Win” Before Calling Kelsea Ballerini the New Country Coach

Meanwhile, Kelsea Ballerini is doing her best to prove herself in the boys club that The Voice has become. As the only woman on the coaching team, she has to work much harder to earn the respect of her team and the viewers. On top of all that, she’s the only new coach in the group; this is her first season of The Voice, while everyone else has at least one season under their belts.

Michael Bublé is only on his second season, but he’s still open to giving Ballerini advice when she asks. Adam Levine and John Legend shared some tips as well when she voiced her worries about the Battle Rounds.

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“Listen and make a decision based on what you saw on the stage,” said Legend. “You may be tempted to make a decision based on rehearsals, but the thing that matters the most is what they do on that stage.”

Levine agreed. “So much of the time when someone steps up in the Battles, you’re like, ‘Woah, what?’” Bublé chimed in, “But some people are made like that!” adding, “The lights go on and they just turn it on.”

Featured Images by Christopher Polk/Penske Media via Getty Images/Trae Patton/NBC