Blake Shelton May Be Gone From The Voice, But Gwen Stefani Made Sure He's Not Forgotten In Reba McEntire's Debut

Spoiler alert! This story contains spoilers for The Voice’s Season 24 premiere that aired September 25.

There’s a new sheriff in town, now that Blake Shelton has officially retired from The Voice, but while Reba McEntire rode in on a horse, she quickly upgraded her status from cowgirl to queen, as she made her debut on Season 24, complete with crown and scepter. That doesn’t mean Shelton was merely a memory, however, as the coaches — and especially Gwen Stefani — spent much of the first night of Blind Auditions taking note of his absence.

It was obvious from the get-go that Blake Shelton may be gone, but he’s definitely not forgotten after serving on the coaches’ panel for the first 23 seasons. After Carson Daly welcomed Reba McEntire to the stage officially for the first time, he presented her with a large pair of scissors to perform a ribbon-cutting on her Big Red Chair, of course, joking that it had been cleaned since the cowboy had vacated it.

That set the tone for the first sans-cowboy episode. Despite the first artist turning attention to Reba McEntire with a rousing rendition of “Fancy,” both Niall Horan and Gwen Stefani channeled Blake Shelton while trying to attract Jordan Rainer to their teams. The No Doubt singer said she’d get song recommendations from her husband, but the One Directioner really upped the ante by rigging his button to where every time he pressed it, Shelton’s voice boomed out something complimentary about him.

Niall Horan would strike again later, trying to win another Four-Chair Turn by hitting his button to feature a large foam finger that read, “Pick Niall,” with Blake Shelton’s name crossed out. Other mentions of the former Voice coach included:

• Gwen saying Blake texted her to say Niall is a liar.

• Gwen saying Blake was so mad that he wasn’t there with the rest of the coaches.

• Reba joking that this season she’ll be bashful unlike Blake, while Gwen said her husband called her the new star of the show, and John Legend hoped that Reba could class up the chair or — Niall added — at least change the cushion.

• Gwen noting how much Blake would have loved Sam Dearie’s audition singing Patsy Cline.

• Gwen reminding everyone, “I’m married to Blake Shelton,” as she tried to win Jackson Snelling to her team.

• Gwen admitting that she rode Blake’s coattails to two No. 1 country singles (and doing his signature finger point) when trying to win Kristen Brown.

So not surprisingly, Blake Shelton remained the focus of The Voice, despite not being on it anymore, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t get a taste of what Reba McEntire will bring as Shelton’s replacement. She was, after all, able to secure Four-Chair Turn Jordan Rainer, who bravely took on the country queen’s biggest hit to kick off the season, which you can see below:

All in all, The Voice seemed a little tamer without Blake Shelton — and his frequent sparring buddy Kelly Clarkson. Nobody blocked anybody from any of the artists (did The Voice finally get rid of the Blocks?), there was less passion in the bickering, and the only stunts pulled by any of the artists were Niall Horan’s recycled moves from Shelton. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing, if it means putting more attention back on the artists.

Blake Shelton’s absence might take some getting used to, but if Gwen Stefani has anything to say about it, he won’t ever be far from our thoughts. The Voice continues at 8 p.m. Tuesday, September 26, on NBC.