Bryce Leatherwood’s win on Season 22 of The Voice also marked Blake Shelton‘s ninth win as a coach. The Grand Ole Opry member is excited about Leatherwood’s future in country music, even if it means he likely won’t be able to perform at Shelton’s Ole Red bars, thanks to his big win.
“I don’t think we can afford him now,” Shelton joked to Entertainment Tonight. “That’s the truth. It’s funny; I was actually texting with the manager of the Ole Red in Oklahoma. He said, ‘So we won’t be able to afford Bryce, but who else can we get from this season?’ I thought, ‘Well, maybe Bryce will throw us a solid. But maybe not.’ He’s gonna be busy. The world’s at his fingertips right now.”
Shelton, whose previous winners included Todd Tilghman, Cassadee Pope, Danielle Bradbery, Craig Wayne Boyd and more, is eager to see Leatherwood’s music career take off after his time on The Voice.
“That’s what’s most exciting for me as a coach, after the fact, is knowing after all this time, I know what opportunities are coming his way,” Shelton shares. “People love the guy. He won The Voice, so imagine how many people want to come see him in concert. There’s a lot out there for him.”
As for Leatherwood, the 22-year-old vows to release music that his growing fanbase will enjoy.
“What I hope’s next is just making music that people love, that makes people want to dance, make people happy, make people want to cry,” he says. “Emotionally-filled music that everyone loves with a steel guitar and a fiddle in there somewhere.”
The win was bittersweet for Shelton, who celebrated his teammate winning, while also realizing that it was the last season he and his wife, Gwen Stefani, will ever appear on the reality TV talent show together. Shelton announced in October that next season, Season 23, would be his last, and Stefani will not be serving as a coach for that season.
“I was so wrapped up in the finale tonight. I had three artists in the finale, and then Bryce won,” Shelton says. “I walked over to Gwen’s chair after the cameras went off, and she’s over there literally sobbing. She was like, ‘This is our last time we’re going to do this together.’ I don’t think it’s going to be Gwen’s last time to be a coach. I would hope not for the sake of the show. But it will be the last time she and I do this together, and it is crazy to think of how this show changed my life majorly by meeting my wife, as being a coach on this show. I was so wrapped up in this that I didn’t even think about that.”