Blake Shelton Says He Has 'No Faith' EGOT Winner John Legend Will Win The Voice
The sixteenth season of The Voice premieres Monday at 8 p.m. on NBC
The Voice is kicking off its sixteenth season on Monday and the competition is already at an all-time high.
Though much has been made about EGOT-winner John Legend joining as a coach this time around, veteran coach Blake Shelton tells PEOPLE exclusively he’s not threatened in the least.
“I don’t know how deadly John is as a coach. I can only tell you that I have absolutely no faith in his ability to win this show,” says the country star, 42, who has won the show six times with his artists. “Not as long as I’m on, you know what I’m saying? I wanna beat him.”
And though Legend is the only one with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony under his belt, Levine, 39, and Shelton — both PEOPLE’s former Sexiest Men Alive — say they’re just fine with that.
“That’s so much better. Are you kidding me? I don’t want a Tony,” quips Levine. Agrees Shelton: “I don’t want to go to one of those shows to get one of those things. The parking’s horrible, the backstage is cramped, you can’t get a drink. It’s much more convenient to just go for Sexiest Man Alive.”
Legend may be a threat this season, but relative newcomer Kelly Clarkson, 36, may be the one to beat. Since joining the show, the “Piece by Piece” singer has nabbed back-to-back wins with her artists.
“Oh, there’s no statistical possibility for her to win. It’s never happened. It’s literally impossible,” Levine told PEOPLE before being reminded by Shelton that he had snagged three wins in a row.
“I’m just looking back at my stats in my mind and I remember specifically me winning the show three times in a row back to back,” ribbed Shelton. “The 3-GOT, we call it.”
Legend, 40, revealed he’s been feeling the heat from the coaches. “I’m very competitive and everybody’s been very competitive with me too. They’re not having any mercy on me just ’cause I’m new,” he says. “Every single one of them only had one block to use, and they all used it on me!” Admits Clarkson: “We were threatened!”
The sixteenth season of The Voice premieres Monday at 8 p.m. on NBC