Reba McEntire Shares A Look Into Her First Season On ‘The Voice’: Most Surprising Moments, Fitting In With The Coaches & More

Viewers are currently watching Reba McEntire take on her role as a coach on The Voice for the very first time in Season 24, but the country icon shared a glimpse into what to expect from the upcoming Season 25 with the addition of Dan + Shay in the new double chair. 

The brand-new element was announced via social media on Wednesday, June 21, revealing that in 2024, the Dan + Shay will each have their own chair and share a button between them. 

The double chair has previously been incorporated on versions of the singing competition show that are broadcasted from other countries, however, this will be a first for the U.S. version of The Voice. 

“I was thrilled when they told me Dan + Shay was going to be on the show. And of course, we had to have a love seat for them instead of just one. They’re great. They’re so good at their notes,” McEntire told Country Now and other outlets.

“Dan being a producer/writer knows music inside and out. Shay’s such a wonderful singer and he’s got that knack of sharing his expertise but also experience of how he got to where he is today,” she said, continuing to boast about the new coaches. “So they’re great coaches and I just love hanging out with them. I’ve loved being around them and their family and to do it now on The Voice is icing on the cake.”

Dan + Shay will join the coaching panel for Season 25 of NBC’s The Voice alongside John Legend, Reba McEntire, and Chance the Rapper. 

Who Did Reba Replace on “The Voice”

After serving as a Mega Mentor for the Season 23 contestants, McEntire joined the singing competition show as Blake Shelton’s replacement. Earlier this year, he announced that he would be stepping down from his iconic red chair after an impressive 23 seasons. 

Luckily, it seems as though the “Fancy” singer fits right into the antics and lighthearted spirit of her fellow coaches, Gwen Stefani, Niall Horan and John Legend. She admits it has even given her the chance to show fans a whole new side to her personality and whit that they may not get to see during her normal on-stage appearances. 

“It is a different part of me coming out because…you just go have fun, which I like to do. And cutting up with Niall and Gwen and John and jabbing them and doing that competitive thing, it is just hysterical. They come up with some of the funniest skits for us to get to do. It just brought out…I guess it’s my personality that a lot of people haven’t seen. If you see a concert, you’ll see a little bit of it. It’s just me being me,” she said honestly while reflecting on her experience on the show so far. 

She even said that the close-knit nature between the coaches has made her feel right at home, which is how she also felt on the set of her 2000s TV sitcom, Reba. 

“We have our coaches meeting before we go in to start the TV show, and it reminds me so much of the Reba show that we’ll all be visiting and telling stories about, ‘Oh, did you see Beyonce’s show? Oh my gosh, did you see the horse?’ And then the producers, Audrey and Carol will be there like, ‘We got to get going.’ So that camaraderie I think is what I love so much, and we’ll just take it right into the next step of one of the skits and have fun with it. We’ll be jokingly cruel sometimes with each other, but it is for fun and entertainment and nobody takes it seriously of any jabs that we do…just silly funny things. Everybody’s got a great sense of humor and we use it.”

What Has Been The Most Surprising Part Of The Show?

Since filming for The Voice began, McEntire admits one aspect that has surprised her the most so far is how easily she gets attached to the contestants on her team. Her fellow returning coaches tried to warn her of this fact, but getting to experience it in person has given her a whole new understanding of just how difficult it is to send them home. 

“You work with them and then you’re going to have to let one of ’em go and Niall said, ‘That’s not fun.’ Gwen said, ‘Oh, you won’t like this part.’ John said, ‘That’s the hardest part of the show, letting ’em go.’ And we got to the battle rounds after we picked everybody and I said, ‘Oh, I love the battle rounds. They’re competing and they’re singing together and it’s so good.’ And then John looked at me, he said, ‘Now what do you think about it?’ And I said, ‘I don’t like sending anybody home. I don’t like this part. Let’s change the rules.’ Everybody laughed, you know, we can’t do that, but I think that’s what I really was the most shocked at, how attached you get to these contestants.”

McEntire and the other coaches are making dreams come true in their roles on The Voice and this great responsibility got the Oklahoma native thinking about the mentors she had growing up and in her early career.

“I had a few coaches, people giving me good advice about life. Red Steagall, Conway Twitty, Mel Tillis, I toured with all of them. So I would [ask], ‘What do you think? What do you, what should I do now?’ And it was great advice, but the main thing they always taught me is to sing in front of as many people as you can. And what I have learned throughout the years is that the song, it’s like a good script. If you don’t have a good script, you can act your butt off, but it’s not going to go anywhere. You’ve got to have a great song that you can maybe add to hopefully, and something that touches my heart, when I sing it correctly, it’ll touch your heart. That’s the things I’m always looking for.”

Would Reba Have Earned A Chair Turn?

Despite that she has become one of the most successful female recording artists in history, McEntire joked that if she had been on The Voice at the start of her career, she doesn’t believe she would earned a chair turn during the blind audition process. 

“We all laugh about, ‘Would anybody turn a chair for us?’ Niall said, ‘Oh, absolutely not.’ And Gwen said, ‘Oh no, I would’ve never gotten turned for.’ I feel the same way. You have to have something, maybe they would’ve, I don’t know, but I’m sure glad it turned out the way it did and we’re all on the panel with the coaches to help these other people further their careers. It’s a lot of fun. It’s very gratifying and we’re very grateful to get to do it.”

Fans can catch Reba McEntire guiding her team of talented contestants on new episodes airing every Monday and Tuesday night on NBC at 9/8c.