“The kids see me as a very important person in their life,” he explained.

Blake Shelton has poured so much of his time and energy into his career through songwriting, performing, acting as a coach on NBC’s , and more. However, at this stage of his life, he’s making necessary changes so that he can better prioritize his life at home with his wife, Gwen Stefani, and her sons Kingston, Zuma and Apollo (Their dad is Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, Stefani’s ex-husband).

On October 11, the “No Body” singer took to social media to announce that once the current season of the Emmy-winning singing competition show comes to an end, he will be stepping away from his chair.  For 23 seasons he acted as a coach and a mentor to many budding artists with a dream. Now, he’s going to focus on his own dreams of spending time at his home in Oklahoma, where he grew up. 

 “We get away from everything [in L.A.], and we’re just . It truly does feel different,” he says. “That’s where I feel the most comfortable, happy and safe.”

“Even though I’m a stepparent, I take that job very seriously. The kids see me as a very important person in their life,” he continued. “[When they ask,] ‘Why isn’t Blake here?’ I take that stuff to heart. I’ve made plenty of money, but you can’t buy time back. I don’t want any regrets.”

Shelton and Stefani first met while working together as coaches on the singing competition showWhile reflecting on the early stages of their friendship, Stefani said she found herself drawn to Shelton “like a magnet.”

They dated for five years before the “God’s Country” singer finally proposed in Oct. 2020. On July 3, 2021, they tied the knot in a small ceremony officiated by  host, Carson Daly.

Luckily, he has his wife’s full support when it comes to leaving the show.  

“I think that Blake–I don’t know, I think he just wants more time, you know what I mean? I don’t know that people realize, if he’s doing two seasons a year, right?” Stefani said. “In between that, he’s touring. So he actually has two teams at the same time at a certain point, so they overlap,” she previously told 

“We have Oklahoma, which is something I never knew I needed and wanted, you know? We planted a garden, we do all kinds of fun stuff,” she continued. “So we’re looking forward to doing some of that family stuff together. It’s ‘gonna be great.”

Shelton recently began his  on  alongside fellow coaches, Kelly Clarkson, Chance The Rapper, and Niall Horan. 

Fans can still watch the country star on the show, airing on NBC every Monday and Tuesday at 8/7c and on Peacock the next day. 

While he may be giving up this piece of his life, Shelton is not going into full retirement mode. In fact, he recently joined a new reality competition show, which be co-produced with Carson Daly.