Darius Rucker to Mentor Team Blake Shelton on 'The Voice' (Exclusive)

The Hootie & the Blowfish singer is going to lend his expertise to Team Blake this season.

Team Blake Shelton is going to have another country music heavyweight in their corner on this season of The Voice

Darius Rucker will be this season’s celebrity mentor during the show’s battle rounds. 

ET’s Nancy O’Dell sat down with Shelton and Rucker back in July before the news had been made public to talk about their partnership on the hit NBC music competition series. 

“Darius Rucker is the perfect choice for, I would say, anything in my life,” Shelton told ET before joking, “I mean, I have been drinking.”

But on a more serious note, Shelton thinks that Rucker’s prestigious career in country music will help to guide his contestants. 

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“He’s the perfect choice as a mentor on The Voice for obvious reasons,” he said. “I made a joke earlier to one of the artists on the show, I go, ‘You know Darius literally has proven that if he decides whatever it is he wants to do in life, he conquers it.’”

Similarly, Rucker is a big fan of Shelton’s and the show in general. 

“First of all, he’s so funny and the thing that really makes him a great coach is he’s so genuine. Blake is never BS, ever,” Rucker insisted. “He’s honest and like I’ve told him, me and my family watch the show religiously. We watch it all the time and, you know, Blake is always honest with them and he’s always got something cool to say.”

So will Rucker help Shelton reclaim his title when The Voice returns this fall?

“He’s winning this year. Yeah, definitely,” Rucker promised. 

The Voice returns Monday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. 

For more from Shelton, watch the clip below:  

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