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With Blake Shelton’s departure from “The Voice”, one of the spinning red chairs remains empty, and some fans are wondering if there’s a chance Reba McEntire would ever be interested in taking the seat.
ET’s Cassie DiLaura recently sat down with McEntire at her new three-floor restaurant, Reba’s Place, in Atoka, Oklahoma, and discussed how the icon turned down an offer to be a judge on “The Voice” before it ever debuted back in 2011.
After McEntire turned down the offer as the show was being shopped around, the producers turned to Shelton — who was then with the show for over 12 years. Now, with his exit, there is a question of whether or not she’d reconsider.
“Who could fill Blake’s shoes?” McEntire said with a smile.
Looking back on when she was first offered the gig, the singer explained, “I got [a look at] the Holland version of ‘The Voice’. They sent it to me and I said, ‘I can’t see me doing that.’”
“Because, you know, I’m a gypsy at heart,” McEntire added, explaining that she doesn’t feel she could be tied down to just one project and just one place for too long. Also, it’s gonna be a tough job for whoever takes it on.
“To fill Blake’s chair? Wow. That’s gonna be tough,” McEntire said. “He did a great job and kudos to him.”
McEntire is fairly busy as it is, what with her music career in full swing and the recent opening of Reba’s Place — which was created inside a retrofitted building. The same building where McEntire actually had to be rescued by firefighters in 2021, when on a site visit looking for locations for her eatery, before it had been entirely overhauled.
Reba’s Place has food, as well as a bar, an entertainment venue and, on the third floor, an area called Jack’s Library — named after her late mother, which features many of her mom’s books from her personal collection.
“Mama would be here everyday eating,” McEntire said, getting emotional while reflecting on what her mom would think of the place. “Whether it was lunch or dinner, she would love it.”
“She would be the mascot, the greeter, she would absolutely love it,” she added. “Daddy would have gotten the biggest kick out of this.”
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