Blake Shelton will kick off his final season of The Voice on Monday, March 6. The singer, who has been with the show for all 23 seasons, announced last year that he was stepping away from the reality TV talent show. Although Shelton is firm in his decision, and knows it is right for him and his family, it doesn’t mean he isn’t going to miss the show that changed his life.

“I don’t think it’s really gonna hit me until the last episode, because when you’re in it, you’re in it,” Shelton shared with Entertainment Tonight.  “But there’s been a few moments, especially in the Blind Auditions, it dawned on me, ‘That’s it. I’m never gonna beg somebody to be on my team again. I’m never gonna hit this button again.’ I didn’t cry or anything.”

Shelton, who quips that he doesn’t cry because he’s a man, acknowledges that the final night of the show will likely evoke a few tears from his eyes.

“It’s probably going to be an emotional night, that last night,” concedes the singer. “I mean, my God, it’s been 23 seasons, 12 years. I met my wife on there. Everything good that could come from something like that, I maxed it out.”

Shelton is juggling The Voice with his Back to the Honky Tonk Tour, although it’s not as big of a tour as some of his other ones. The reason for both the end of his time on The Voice and a scaled-back tour is because of his desire to be more present for his wife,  Gwen Stefani, and his three stepsons.

“I don’t do a lot of these — I think we’re doing 18 of these shows this year,” Shelton explained. “I try to limit it as much as I can, because the whole reason I’m even stepping away from The Voice is so I can just be there more, and that’s what I’m gonna do.”

Shelton’s tour includes a big bar in the middle of the stage, a nod to his early years of playing bars and small venues.

“It’s just fun,” Shelton said. “It really is like what I started out doing — you know, we played the bars and in some of them old honky-tonks and stuff that I played back in the day, the bar would be kind of there on the side and people would come turn around and [listen]. So it’s fun to kind of relive that a little bit.”

The Oklahoma native recently revealed that he actually considered leaving The Voice a few years ago, but stayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think I was close to calling it a day right when COVID hit,” Shelton admitted on Today. “And then, because of COVID, I didn’t want to walk away from the show and leave everybody in a bind. I mean, this show changed my life. I’ll stay here until the world kind of gets back to normal again.”

Shelton is joined for Season 23 of The Voice by Kelly Clarkson, Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper, who will all serve as coaches this year. Season 23 of The Voice premieres on March 6 at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.

All of Shelton’s upcoming shows can be found at BlakeShelton.com.