Entertainment Weekly (Sept. 22nd 2014)

Blake Shelton on his new 'Voice' costars Gwen Stefani and Pharrell: 'That's my competition'

Tonight’s premiere of the new season of The Voice features two familiar faces and two newcomers. Adam Levine and Blake Shelton are back once again, but they’ll be joined by first-time coaches Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani. The latter two are both new to singing competitions, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of personalities emerge as the blind auditions roll on.

But neither Stefani nor Williams should look to their left for advice, Shelton tells EW: “I didn’t tell them crap,” Shelton said, laughing. “That’s my competition. We do these interviews, and Adam will get mad at me because I won’t help them. This is a competition, and my job is to try to win this thing. When I started on this show, nobody helped me!”

Despite his will to win, Shelton has nothing but praise for his newest competitors. “I had met Pharrell before, but I didn’t realize he’s one of the most intelligent human beings I’ve ever been around, and such a big heart. He’s just the sweetest guy you’ll ever meet. I’ve really enjoyed sitting next to him and talking to him,” Shelton said. “Gwen’s quickly becoming one of my favorite people that I’ve had the chance to work with on the show. I think she is the most normal person I have ever met in Hollywood—outside of the fact that she says the word ‘rad’ a lot. She’s the only person I know that says that. It must be an Orange County thing.”

Shelton said his wife also found herself a new friend: “I couldn’t wait to introduce Miranda to her when we were in New York City, because we were both just giddy about having the chance to meet her and get pictures with her,” Shelton admitted. “Miranda’s got fashion stuff coming up, and I knew the second I introduced them that’s instantly what they’d be talking about, and that’s what happened. It was cool to stand by and watch it.”