'The Voice' host Carson Daly confirms Christina Aguilera returning as coach

The Voice host Carson Daly has confirmed Christina Aguilera will be returning as a coach for the reality singing competition's fifth season.


"[I'm] very excited. We're all excited. I mean, how great!" Daly told E! News, confirming recent reports that Aguilera has inked a contract to return as a coach next season.

"She helped launch the show, and like we've said with all of our coaches, this isn't their day jobs. They're not celebrity judges, they are real artists and they have to tour and it's great to have her come back into the fold."

Daly suggested Aguilera was an easy and obvious choice from the very beginning when she had initially signed on to sit in one of the spinning chairs.

"Now we're four cycles, as we call it, in deep. And we're doing quite well," he said. "But with this show, we thought we were crazy to put on another singing competition show. We sat around thinking, 'Who's the voice of our generation?' And [Christina] was the first name who came to mind."


Daly also expressed his enthusiasm for the return of Cee Lo Green, who's reportedly close to finalizing a deal to come back as a coach for The Voice's fifth season. With mainstays Adam Levine and Blake Shelton also reportedly sticking with the show for the next season, The Voice will potentially have its original squad back.
 
"Yeah, for the original team to kind of get back together, there's always something special about that. So, we've missed Cee Lo. I mean, that guy provides a lot of behind-the-camera entertainment for us. We're all real close, especially the four coaches and myself that started this show. So if that were the case and this next incarnation Season 5, to have us all back, that would be something special," the host told E! News.
 
Shakira confirmed she's leaving The Voice after this season earlier this week, and Daly explained it wasn't a matter of quitting on Shakira's part.

"I don't think that's the case. There's a lot of moving parts, a lot of scheduling as you can imagine. The way this show shoots in a calendar, if you and I sat down and I laid it all out, you have to make decisions pretty early that take effect sometimes four or five or six months later," Daly said.

"With these people's busy schedules, we make decisions. Plus, we're on twice a year now. The show's doing well, we think we'll be here for a while, so hopefully there will be a lot of big name artists that might have a red chair in the future!"

As for Usher, Daly's not sure whether the singer will be leaving the show at the end of this season.

"I don't know," Daly noted. "I don't know. He might be back, he might not. He might be back now; He might be back later. But he's been an incredible addition to the show. I hope he comes back, if not now, soon!"


Aguilera, Green, Levine, and Shelton all coached The Voice's first three seasons together. Aguilera's return to the show isn't unexpected, as both she and Green had said they were anticipating coming back for a future edition when they announced their departures prior to The Voice's fourth season.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski