Sibling rivalry! Before Nick Jonas landed his role as a coach on The Voice, he was in direct competition with older brother Joe Jonas.
“I remember — and I don’t even know if you know this, some more tea that hasn’t been spilled — it was at the most picturesque setting, it was at the Fleetwood Mac show at MSG [Madison Square Garden], and as they’re playing ‘Landslide,’ I found out that he was going to be a judge on The Voice,” Joe, 33, recalled during the Monday, May 22, episode of the “Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard” podcast. “I was so jealous. I cried my eyes out to ‘Landslide.’”
He added: “It was bittersweet, of course, because I’m super happy for him, but I’m also bummed because I want that f–king gig.”
Eldest brother Kevin Jonas chimed in to provide “a little context,” noting that the “Cake by the Ocean” singer had previously served as a coach on The Voice Australia during its seventh season in 2018. “He was like, ‘I did my time there! I should do it here,’” Kevin, 35, recalled on Monday’s episode.
Joe, for his part, confessed that he “just enjoyed the job,” which is why he was so keen to join the U.S. version. However, he thought that Nick, 30, ultimately “crushed it.”
The Jumanji actor joined the NBC panel for season 18 of The Voice in 2020, alongside Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend. The “Jealous” crooner then returned for season 20, where he enlisted Joe and Kevin to appear as his team’s celebrity mentors.
The Jonas Brothers musicians — who came back together as a band in 2019 following their 2013 hiatus — have long experienced sibling rivalry, from their early career milestones on Broadway to recent acting gigs.
“We always say we want someone with the last name Jonas to win,” Nick quipped to the Parenthood alum, 48, before revealing that he “recently” went head-to-head with Joe for the same role in the movie adaptation of Wicked.
“Naturally, we’re brothers, we’re competitive in sports and other things, but when it comes to our career, I think we genuinely both looked at each other and said, ‘Go in there and kill it,’” Nick said on the podcast. “It has to be one of us. That being said, [we] never got that call.”
While it is not known which Wicked role the siblings auditioned for, Jonathan Bailey is set to play leading man Fiyero and Broadway veteran Ethan Slater is slated to portray Boq. The movie, which debuts its first half in 2024, also stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo as witches Galinda and Elphaba, respectively.
