Surprise – Kelsea Ballerini is Filling in for Kelly Clarkson on ‘The Voice’

Kelly Clarkson was noticeably missing from Monday’s episode of NBC’s The Voice and fans were delighted to learn that country superstar Kelsea Ballerini was taking her place. 

Clarkson was absent from her seat on the judges’ panel due to illness, so she phoned a friend to fill in for her. 

Prior to the announcement that Ballerini would be joining the show, Clarkson and her fellow The Voice coaches teased that someone would be filling in for Clarkson while she was sick. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson)

In a clip shared to Instagram, they revealed that a female would be joining the cast to fill in for Clarkson. 

“Hello, thank you so much for doing this for me,” Clarkson said on speakerphone to the person on the other end of the line. 

The video then cuts to coaches Blake Shelton, John Legend and Nick Jonas bantering before questioning why Clarkson wasn’t there. 

“Where’s Kelly though?” Legend asked Shelton and Jonas.

“She’s probably on her talk show,” Jonas jokingly replied. “I think we just do it without her.”

“I’m in!” Shelton added.

Longtime The Voice host Carson Daly then introduced the coaches to the show stage where Legend asked “Where’s Kelly” before Daly revealed that Clarkson will not appear during this week’s battle rounds as she wasn’t feeling well.

“Unfortunately, our own Kelly Clarkson was not feeling well this week,” host Carson Daly explained in the clip. “Kelly’s staying at home and she’s watching the battles remotely.”

The host went on to say, “We were very… lucky enough to get her good friend and our good friend……” before the video cut off. 

Following the announcement on Monday evening, Ballerini took to Twitter to share her excitement over filling in for her longtime friend and past tour mate. 

“When @kellyclarkson calls and asks you to keep her seat warm, you put all those years of being her super fan to work,” she wrote. The “Hole In The Bottle” singer went on to thank Legend, Jonas and Shelton for making her feel welcome on the show. 

when @kellyclarkson calls and asks you to keep her seat warm, you put all those years of being her super fan to work. thank you @johnlegend @nickjonas and ole pops @blakeshelton 😂 for making me feel like part of the @NBCTheVoice family. pic.twitter.com/Gst97bdhDU

— Kelsea Ballerini (@KelseaBallerini) March 23, 2021

Fans can tune in to The Voice on Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC.