'The Voice' Star John Legend Admits This Part of Coaching Is 'Agony'
John Legend replaced Jennifer Hudson on The Voice in season 16.
He's made a few mistakes along the way, but he's also learned a lot from his time as a coach.
He tells CountryLiving.com about the "hardest part" of being on the show.
Prior to joining Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine as a coach on The Voice, EGOT-winner John Legend thought his years as a choir director were preparation enough for his role as a mentor to the artists on the show. But there was one major element that John wasn't ready for.
“I didn’t expect to have my heart broken so much, because you start working with people and then they’re gone,” John tells CountryLiving.com after the performance-packed season 16 finale. “You start losing people that you’re excited to work with. I think that’s the hardest part.”
The introduction of the first-ever Cross Battles round didn't help, either. “I think that threw all the coaches, because no one had done it before and that was difficult, too, because we put the selection process into the hands of the fans even earlier than we’ve ever done it.”
And although John still had a contender in the competition after bidding adieu to Shawn Sounds when the finalists were announced, he says, “It’s heartbreaking when you lose people that you invest a lot of time into and you see how heartbreaking it is for them. And obviously it’s even worse for them than it is for us, but it’s hard to go through that process and feel the agony of going home for so many people.”
Still, as a first time coach, John nailed his role, even if he was taken aback by a few unexpected twists and turns. “I was excited about mentoring new artists and I was excited about helping them be the best versions of themselves they can be,” he says.
Ain’t that the truth! He managed to usher Maelyn Jarmon all the way to the finish line and he had fun during the process. “That was the easiest part, it was just fun and natural for me to do,” he says.
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