Reality TV is often scripted, or at the very least sketchy, and The Voice is no exception.
The long-running singing competition puts hopefuls in front of a panel of four judges
who, if they like you, will vie for you to join their respective teams and compete to
win it all -- a lucrative recording contract.
To land that coveted deal, competitors will not only need help from the judges, but also
votes from the audience.
That's the glossy formula sold to audiences, but the untold truth of The Voice is much
darker and deceptive.
If the rumors are true, this show is loaded with dirt.
Here are the shenanigans that producers would love to silence.
She became a star on American Idol, but Kelly
Clarkson apparently became a diva on The Voice.
A source told Radar Online in February 2018 about the star's behavior, saying,
"She is not the person that everyone thought she was going to be.
[...] She is bossy and argumentative, and the other judges, especially Blake, already
had an issue with her because of the amount of money they reportedly paid her to join
the cast."
Take all that with a grain of salt because Clarkson and Shelton have long been close
pals.
After Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani went
public with their relationship, producers reportedly jumped at the chance to capitalize
on it.
A source told Radar Online that ahead of Season 12,
"[Stefani and Shelton were] paid an exceptional bonus that is significantly higher than the
other judges to keep the spark alive on-camera."
The source added: "There is a stipulation in their contract,
which is more of a break-up clause.
If, for some reason, they call it quits, they are both required to finish out the remainder
of their existing contracts."
If the producers had gotten everything they reportedly wanted, it would have impacted
more than just the on-screen relationship.
The source also added: "[They wanted] nothing more than for Blake
to propose to Gwen during a taping of the show."
In May 2017, when it was announced that both
Jennifer Hudson and Kelly Clarkson would be joining The Voice, both ladies said that they
wouldn't be on the show together… and a source told Radar Online it's because they
can't stand one another.
By July 2017, Radar Online also published rumors that Hudson was already feuding with
Miley Cyrus, saying, "There is already some serious shade between
Jennifer and Miley.
Jennifer is a total loudmouth.
[…] Miley already cannot tolerate Jennifer and thinks that she does not deserve to be
on the panel to begin with."
Insider sources also claim that Blake Shelton didn't take to Hudson, and not even the contestants
were safe: "He thinks that she is trying to steal the
spotlight, which she is.
But it is creating a lot of tension on and off-camera.
[...] She is racking up enemies like no other judge before.
She had several contestants crying backstage after blind auditions because of her commentary."
While producers seemed eager to get Jennifer Hudson the heck outta there, they're reportedly
desperate to hold onto Blake Shelton and Adam Levine, but Levine, in particular, may be
itching to leave.
In January 2018, a source told Radar Online that the Maroon 5 frontman wants to settle
down and be a family man with wife Behati Prinsloo and their two daughters.
The sourced added that if Levine does call it quits, there could be a domino effect,
saying: "If Adam leaves, Blake is going to follow
because he has been over it for a while.
Ever since Gwen left, Blake has been ready to go."
A few months later, an insider dished to Radar Online:
"After word got back to the higher-ups that Blake and Adam want out, they decided to offer
them each a $5 million bonus to stay on the show until 2020.
They are literally begging them to stay because they fear that losing them would cause ratings
to plummet!"
Despite the hoops contestants jump through
for the chance at a recording contract, those contracts don't seem to do much for the winners.
The problem is so glaring that even the coaches are sick of talking about it.
Adam Levine told Billboard: "Eventually, The Voice is going to have to
launch somebody into the stratosphere to continue to be taken seriously."
While most winners on The Voice have failed to make it big, the judges' careers have enjoyed
huge boosts.
Adam Levine admitted Maroon 5 was "slumping" before The Voice premiered.
Now the band is back on top and Levine has his own fragrance and clothing lines.
Blake Shelton was a niche country artist before The Voice but now enjoys mainstream success.
And Gwen Stefani felt a lot of love after performing her heartbreak single, "Used to
Love You," on the show.
All of that probably isn't a coincidence.
In May 2013, host Carson Daly revealed that online and text message votes for The Voice
encountered a snafu, noting inconsistencies that the show's monitoring system reportedly
caught.
Daly told audiences that, to be fair to everyone, the votes cast online and via text weren't
counted in the results for that night.
He then assured audiences that removing the votes didn't change the outcome… at all.
Then what's the point?
An NBC source defended the network to the New York Daily News, saying:
"We have never manipulated the outcome on this show…
NBC and The Voice producers take the fairness and integrity of this competition far too
seriously."
Still, it makes you wonder.
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