The Voice (American TV series) season 28

The twenty-eighth season of the American reality television series The Voice premiered on September 22, 2025, on NBC. The season is hosted by Carson Daly, who has hosted every season of the show. The coaching panel consists of Michael Bublé, who returns for his third consecutive season; Reba McEntire and Snoop Dogg, who return for their fourth and second respective seasons after a one-season hiatus; and Niall Horan, who returns for his third season after last coaching during the twenty-fourth season.^[1]

Aiden Ross was named the winner of the season, marking Niall Horan's third win as a coach. Ross' win marks the third time that the first (aired) act to audition would go on to win the entire season, following Todd Tilghman's win in season 18 and Girl Named Tom's win in season 21. Horan became the second coach to win three consecutive seasons as a coach, following Blake Shelton's consecutive wins from seasons 2 to 4; however, Horan did not achieve this in consecutive numerical seasons. Additionally, Horan became the first coach in the history of the show to win their first three seasons.

On April 23, 2025, it was announced that Snoop Dogg would return to the panel, after a one-season hiatus, for the twenty-eighth season.^[2] On May 12, 2025, NBC announced that The Voice was renewed for a twenty-eighth season to air in the Fall of 2025.^[3][4] The lineup of coaches was revealed on the show's website.^[1]

Of the four coaches from the previous season, only Michael Bublé returned, marking his third consecutive season as a coach. Coaches John Legend, Kelsea Ballerini, and Adam Levine all left the panel. Former coaches Reba McEntire and Snoop Dogg^[2] return to the show following their absence in the previous season, marking their fourth and second seasons as a coach, respectively. Former coach Niall Horan also returns to the show after a three-season hiatus, marking his third season on the show as a coach. This season is the first since season 20 in which no new coach is introduced to the panel.

Carson Daly returns for his twenty-eighth consecutive season as host.

The teams' battle advisors were revealed on October 7, 2025, immediately following the end of the blind auditions. The battle advisors for this season are last season's coach Kelsea Ballerini for Team Bublé, former coach Nick Jonas for Team Reba, Lewis Capaldi for Team Niall, and Lizzo for Team Snoop.^[5] Ballerini previously advised for Team Kelly in the sixteenth season and Jonas previously advised for Team Christina in the eighth season. On October 20, 2025, it was announced that Zac Brown would serve as a mega mentor for the Knockouts alongside Joe Walsh. Brown mentored Teams Bublé and Snoop, while Walsh was paired with Teams Niall and Reba.^[6]

Ahead of the season's premiere, the show, via its online media platforms, released a cover of the 1973 Steve Miller Band single "The Joker" performed by the coaches.^[7]

Shortly prior to the season premiere, the blind audition of Jazz McKenzie, performing Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It", was released online.^[8] Later episodes saw the auditions of Max Cooper III, Cori Kennedy, Toni Lorene, Ava Nat, and Elias Gomez released online as a sneak peek for their respective episodes.^[9]

The show began with the Blind Auditions on September 22, 2025.^[10] In each audition, an artist sings their piece in front of the coaches, whose chairs face the audience. If a coach is interested in working with the artist, they may press their button to face the artist. If only one coach presses the button, the artist automatically becomes part of their team. If multiple coaches turn, they will compete for the artist, who will decide which team they will join. Each coach has one "block" to prevent another coach from getting an artist. This season, each coach ends up with 12 artists by the end of the blind auditions, creating a total of 48 artists advancing to the battles.^[11]

This season, a new feature was introduced, dubbed the "Carson Callback." This feature allows Carson Daly to select one artist to audition again after previously failing to make a team.^[12]

This is the fifth in The Voice history where at least one coach (Niall Horan in this instance) does not have any one-chair turns on their teams. The others were Adam Levine and Pharrell Williams in season 7, John Legend in season 17, Kelly Clarkson in season 23, and Legend and Horan in season 24. This is also Horan's second consecutive season without a one-chair turn.

Among this episode's auditionees was Ryan Mitchell, who previously auditioned unsuccessfully this season but was allowed another audition from the "Carson Callback".

Among this episode's auditionees was Kayleigh Clark, who previously competed on the twenty-first season of American Idol, and Rob Cole, who previously auditioned unsuccessfully in season 25.

Among this episode's auditionees was Kanard Thomas, who previously auditioned unsuccessfully on season 16 originally, but was later selected to compete on "The Comeback Stage", where he was coached by Bebe Rexha, and was named the winner. He was subsequently eliminated in the Live Playoffs.

Among this episode's auditionees was Letter to Elise, consisting of Elliott Hunt, who previously auditioned unsuccessfully in season 27, and Myra Tran, who previously won the second season of The X Factor Vietnam and competed on the seventeenth season of American Idol.

The second stage of the show, the battles, aired from October 13, 2025, to October 27, 2025, consisting of episodes 7 through 10. The advisors for this round were Kelsea Ballerini for Team Bublé, Nick Jonas for Team Reba, Lewis Capaldi for Team Niall, and Lizzo for Team Snoop.^[5]

This season, for the first time in the history of the show, the artists on each team pair themselves, rather than each coach making the pairings. Both artists then perform in a singing match where their coach selects one of them to advance to the next round. Losing artists may be "stolen" by another coach, becoming new members of that team, or can be saved by their coach, remaining a part of their original team. Multiple coaches can attempt to steal an artist, resulting in a competition for the artist, who will ultimately decide which team they will go to. Additionally, their original coach can compete for their artist if they attempt to save them.^[11][19]

At the end of this round, eight artists will remain on each team; six will be battle winners, and one from a steal and a save, respectively. In total, 32 artists advance to the knockouts.

The third stage of the show, the knockouts, aired from October 27, 2025, directly following the conclusion of the battles, to November 24, 2025, consisting of episodes 10 through 14. Zac Brown served as mega mentor for Teams Bublé and Snoop, while Joe Walsh served as mega mentor for Teams Niall and Reba. In the round, each coach groups two of their artists in a singing match. The artists themselves will select the song they will sing in the round, and then their coach selects one of them to advance to the playoffs. This season, there are no saves or steals, which marks the first time since the fourth season that no steals are in the Knockouts. Instead, this season introduces the "Mic Drop" button that each coach can use on one of their artists. The four recipients will be voted on by the public and the one with the most votes will perform at the Rose Parade on New Years Day 2026. Each coach will take four artists through at the end of the round, making a total of 16 artists advancing to the Playoffs.^[11]

Following episode 14, voting opened to the public and the "Mic Drop" with the most votes will perform at the Rose Parade on New Years Day 2026. The results were revealed during the second week of the Playoffs on December 8, 2025.

The fourth stage of the show, the playoffs, aired from December 1 to December 8, consisting of episodes 15 through 16. The top 16 artists perform for the coaches with a song of their choosing. At the end of the round, each coach selects only one of their artists to advance, creating a total of 4 playoff artists directly advancing to the finale. However, this season, the public votes an additional artist from either of the two teams that performed in the episode to the finale. In total, 6 artists will advance to live finale.

Like seasons 6, 13, and 23–27, the playoffs were not contested live. They were prerecorded and taped at the same stage as the prior two rounds. Teams Bublé and Reba performed on the first episode, while Teams Niall and Snoop performed on the second episode.

The season finale ran through two nights, Monday and Tuesday, December 15 through 16, 2025, comprising episodes 17 through 19. The Top 6 performed on Monday, with each artist performing a classic song and a contemporary song for the title of The Voice. At the episode's conclusion, the overnight voting for the season's winner began. The following night, on Tuesday, Ariana Madix and Dylan Efron hosted the finale preshow, recapping the previous night's performances and interviewing the six remaining finalists along with the night's guest performers.^[30] Immediately following, the finalists performed a holiday-themed duet with their respective coaches (due to Horan being on vocal rest, DEK of Hearts performed a duet with McEntire and Aiden Ross performed a duet with Gina Miles) before the results of the public vote were announced and the winner of the season was named.

Aiden Ross won the season, marking Niall Horan's third straight win as a coach. Horan became the second coach in the history of the show to win three consecutive seasons in the appearances on the show, following Blake Shelton's consecutive wins from seasons 2 to 4. However, Horan did not achieve this in consecutive numerical seasons as he took a three-season hiatus following season 24.