Ariana Grande joins The Voice as ‘surprise’ new coach as Nick Jonas bows out

Ariana Grande walking holding a black folder / Ariana on a The Voice chair

Ariana Grande is joining The Voice as a fully-fledged coach, replacing Nick Jonas.

“Surprise!” the pop icon wrote on Instagram, posing (with a little Photoshop magic) atop one of the reality show’s iconic red chairs.

“I am beyond thrilled, honoured, excited to be joining Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and Blake Shelton next season.”

Ariana Grande follows in the footsteps of The Voice coaches and music legends such as Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, Shakira and Jennifer Hudson in serving on the panel.

In a statement she added: “I’m so honored and excited to join The Voice family! I have been a huge fan of the show for such a long time.

“I can’t wait to go head-to-head with the incredible coaches, get to know these new artists and help to take their craft to the next level.”

 

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Ariana Grande will join The Voice for its 21st season, expected to premiere later this year. Currently Clarkson, Legend, Shelton and Jonas are battling it out in the 20th season.

The news comes just months after Ariana made history at the Grammy Awards.

She and Lady Gaga won Best Pop Duo Performance for “Rain on Me”, becoming the first all-female pair to win the gong.

This week, Ariana received an honour of a completely different nature, becoming the most lip-synced to artist in Drag Race herstory.

Her seminal bop “No Tears Left To Cry” was used in the show’s latest episode, becoming her seventh track to be featured after Break Free”, “Greedy”, “Bang Bang”, “Into You”, “Problem” and “One Last Time”.

In an Instagram story, Ariana gushed: “This is the greatest honour of all time. I am so happy and thankful RuPaul, no one understands what this means to me.”

It came after she released her acclaimed sixth studio album, Positions, which debuted at number one in the UK and the US.