US Country singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini on Monday
turned out to be the celebrity substitute of The Voice coach Kelly Clarkson,
with the latter taking a break from the show, in its 20th season right
now, due to health issues. Seemingly, Ballerini kills it at the job too, as
during her very first introduction to the show, the singer took a shot at
fellow coach Blake Shelton, a trait shared by Clarkson.

Kelsea, who has quite some experience with the show, served
as the fifth coach for singers on season 15, tweeting on Monday that she appreciated
Clarkson putting her up to the task and thanked all the other coaches, as per an
Entertainment Tonight report.

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“Just pretend I’m Kelly”, Ballerini was quoted by ET as
saying in a pre-show promo, reportedly further taking a playful jibe at fellow coach
and Country musician Blake Shelton at the same time.

“Hey Blake, have I ever told you that you look like my
dad?” Ballerini was further quoted as saying during the promo.

Clarkson, meanwhile, tweeted out, thanking her team’s former
celebrity mentor from season 16 for pitching in while she was off-air, confident
that the team was going to do well under Ballerini.

Thank you so much @KelseaBallerini for sitting in for me
while I was feeling under the weather!” Kelly shared on Twitter on Monday.
“I know my team is in great hands with you!! Y’all aren’t going to want to
miss this!! The battles start next week on @NBCTheVoice! #TeamKelly #TheVoice”,
Clarkson said on Twitter.

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Ballerini, on the other hand, took on the job with
confidence, saying she utilised all her years of being a ‘super fan’ to do
justice to the position she had been given.

 “When
@kellyclarkson calls and asks you to keep her seat warm, you put all those
years of being her super fan to work. Thank you @johnlegend, @nickjonas and ole
pops @blakeshelton for making me feel like part of the @NBCTheVoice family”, she
tweeted.

The show completes 20 years of its existence in 2021. With a unique ‘Blind Audition’ process that requires judges to sit with their back to the performer and initially just hear them sing – rather than seeing them – is the The Voice’s trademark themes that has gained significant popularity over the years.