Christina Aguilera has no plans to return to her spinning red chair. The singer, who is set to drop her first album in six years on June 15, revealed in a new interview that the NBC competition show The Voice was like a “churning hamster wheel.”
Aguilera, 37, was a coach for six seasons on The Voice, from 2011 to 2016, and admitted to Billboard magazine that she was “longing for freedom” after the “energy sucker” show.
“I would just take everything off – the makeup, all of it – and would blast hip-hop or Nirvana, ‘Creep,’ Slayer. Anything like that to get me out of that zone, that TV mode,” she said. The actress also said that the show was not exactly what she had thought it would be.
“It became something that I didn’t feel was what I had signed up for in season one. You realize it’s not about music. It’s about making good TV moments and massaging a story,” the Burlesque star said. “I didn’t get into this business to be a television show host and to be given all these [rules] … Especially as a female: You can’t wear this, can’t say that. I would find myself on that show desperately trying to express myself through clothing or makeup or hair. It was my only kind of outlet.”
A source close to the NBC show responded to the singer’s comments, revealing there’s no hard feelings toward her. “Christina was an incredibly valuable member of The Voice for many seasons and we appreciate all she did for the show,” the insider tells Us. “She’ll always be a part of The Voice family.”
However, Aguilera stayed at the show for so long because she’s a mother of two. She shares son Max Liron, 10, with ex Jordan Bratman and daughter Summer Rain, 3, with fiancé Matthew Rutler.
“Touring is so frightening to me, because I am a mom first. It’s part of why I stayed in the position I was [at The Voice]. It’s easy to get comfortable and cushy in the same place and not have to worry about uprooting your kids. I’ve been putting myself on the back burner,” she said. “It needs to happen. I’m looking forward to getting back out and actually showing my kids what Mommy really does!”
