Less than a week before the season 6 premiere of The Voice, Cee Lo Green reveals he will be the first of the original four celebrity coaches to leave the show for good.
The “Forget You” singer revealed in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show set to air Wednesday (Feb. 19) that he would not be returning as a coach on The Voice in any future seasons.
He sort of stumbled into revealing the news, after DeGeneres asked him about how he’s passing the time while he sits out season 6. “I’m going to continue my relationship with NBC,” he says. “I have a television show development deal with them as well and hopefully some other talk show opportunities for later in the year. But yeah, I’m going to miss The Voice too. So I’m not coming back, guys.”
He went on to say, “I just want to…I don’t want to wear out my welcome there. You know what I’m saying. I have so many other things that I want to do. I haven’t released an album in four years. I’m almost done with my album.”
For The Voice viewers, Cee Lo’s announcement does not come as much of a shock. The flamboyant performer has manned one of the famous red spinning chairs for four of the show’s six seasons, but hasn’t won a single season. Not only that, but he seemed notably less enthusiastic during his appearance in this past season, not seeming to fight as hard to win the most talented performers. It’s almost like he resigned himself to failure from the very beginning, and didn’t want to waste the energy.
Cee Lo was a great addition to the coaching team, and he will definitely be missed. His unique observations, outrageous fashion, and interesting pets have entertained us over the past few years, and we’ll be sad to see him go.
Cee Lo’s announcement leads us to wonder about the fate of the rest of the coaches. Christina Aguilera is the only other original coach without a single victory – will she follow Cee Lo’s lead and move on to greener pastures? Winning coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton have both become much bigger stars as a result of their time on The Voice – will they take their new-found stardom to other projects? As for Usher and Shakira, while their second season is just about to start, they are both successful artists with undoubtedly busy schedules – will they have the time to return for another season?
Maybe this will mean we’ll see a new face on the coaching team for season 7. Usher and Shakira have both proven to be hugely popular additions to the group, though fans were initially nervous about breaking up the dynamic of the original four. Will the NBC hit be able to replicate this same success again, with another new face?
Check out the video of Cee Lo’s announcement below:
The Voice returns for season 6 on Monday, Feb. 24, at 8 p.m. on NBC.