Blake Shelton Says He Approves of Reba McEntire Replacing Him on 'The Voice': 'She's Just So Authentic'
McEntire will be joining the hit NBC competition series as a coach following Shelton's exit after 23 seasons
Here's your one chance, Reba McEntire — don't let Blake Shelton down!
In a new interview with Extra, Shelton voiced his feelings about the country legend joining The Voice for season 24 alongside returning coaches John Legend, Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani following the "God's Country" singer's exit from the competition series.
"Well there's a couple of things about Reba that makes her so special," Shelton, 46, told the outlet. "First of all, she's just so authentic. I don't know anybody country, or on the planet, [who is more authentic than] Reba, and that's just the truth, but the other thing is her talent."
He added that McEntire, 68, "was born with this raw, natural talent that's just unbelievable."
"People will finally maybe start to realize what an incredible vocalist she is," predicted Shelton. "I shouldn't say that; millions of us already know that. But so many more people are going to realize what an incredible vocalist she is because she's going to, as a coach on this show, perform at times, you know, and it's just, it's shocking what an incredible singer she is."
McEntire is no stranger to The Voice — she's previously appeared on the show as an advisor to the coaches and is currently acting as this season's mega mentor.
Speaking to PEOPLE on set of the show earlier this week, she opened up about preparing to become a coach.
"The country lane — I'm taking over for Blake so I'm gonna represent country music. [He's got] big boots. I don't know what size those boots are, but they're big, so I'm gonna really work hard to make him proud," said McEntire of Shelton, who is wrapping up his time as a coach on the show after 23 seasons.
The "Fancy" performer's also got fierce competition in Shelton's wife Stefani, who's returning as a coach for the seventh time. "I do understand that I need to go razzle-dazzle with Gwen being on there," says McEntire. "Gwen's always got the nicest outfits, so I really need to step up my game on that."
Elsewhere in the interview, she spoke about the other coaches that'll sit beside her on the panel. "John and Niall [are] all really funny and clever, and always have so many smart things to say, so I've got my work cut out for me," says McEntire.
She continued, "I'm most excited about basically getting started, and I'm sure that I'll have lots of help, lots of advice, lots of people coming around saying, 'You can do this. You can do that.' And I'm not afraid at all. I think it'll be a very fun adventure."
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