Gwen Stefani is all set to make her return to the spinning chair on "The Voice" in the hit reality singing competition's upcoming ninth season.
Stefani, who made her debut on the show last fall, makes her return in the wake of original coach Christina Aguilera taking a break. The "Hollaback Girl" singer will return alongside fellow coaches Pharrell Williams, Blake Shelton and Adam Levine. Carson Daly will return as host, Entertainment Weekly noted.
Stefani said in a press release, "I'm coming back and am so excited! I can't believe I get to return to The Voice."
"It's so inspiring to be around such incredible talent and music. I'm looking forward to working again with Adam, Blake and Pharrell. I love those guys," she added.
NBC confirmed that Christina Aguilera is officially sitting out Season 9, and also that there won't be any newbies in the mix for the upcoming season.
During Season 8, which saw Aguilera along with returning coaches Williams, Levine, and Shelton, host Carson Daly told Us Weekly that he realized that the roster would be little different this fall.
"These guys tour," Daly explained. "They're not TV people - they're musicians first. We knew that they have to tour around the world and so, unlike other shows, we've always known that we're going to have the revolving chairs. When we can get Usher and Gwen in the mix with these guys, it's been great."
Although swapping in Shakira for Aguliera among other changes was intimidating at first, Daly said now that the audience knows to expect different faces, things are better now.
"I think we were scared by it at first because, you know, whenever there was a panel change at [American] Idol or another show I think the public thought that meant there was trouble in paradise," Daly said.
"We always felt like we had A-list artists who need to tour. We actually liked fresh blood; we thought it changed up each season. We're on twice a year too, so it just changes things up a little bit, and look at what we've gotten! CeeLo [Green] is awesome, then we got Usher, now Pharrell."
That being said, Aguilera's departure doesn't imply that she is leaving the show for good.
"Christina is confirmed for Season 10 and has already signed her contract. She has been very vocal about not doing Season 9 to take a break to spend time with her family and her kids," a source tells Us Weekly.
"She always planned to flip them so she had a season off and she is not being replaced by Gwen. She will definitely be back the next season."
"The Voice" is slated to return for Season 9 in the fall.
