Season 26 of “The Voice” became quite a nail-biter, with incredible talents like country rocker Christina Eagle and teen crooner Edward Preble. However, if you think the intense competition is left out on the stage, think again — and think beyond the competitors. One secret about “The Voice” you weren’t supposed to know is that judges Reba McEntire and Gwen Stafani are rumored to have been less than keen on working with each other ahead of the season.

After a temporary hiatus during Season 25, with which many “Voice” fans were pleased after wanting Stefani kicked off the show, it was announced in the summer of 2024 that the “Hollaback Girl” singer would be reclaiming her chair for her eighth season in 2024. Stefani and McEntire previously worked as coaches together in Season 24, but with Stefani gone in Season 25, McEntire had the chance to become the queen of the coaches.

While McEntire plays the caring mentor and charismatic coach during filming, an inside source told Life & Style magazine that it’s all a front. “She’s extremely competitive and bossy and tends to dominate over her peers and associates,” said the source, adding: “People around them predict it’s going to get nasty because Gwen always liked to be the center of attention before and expects it to be the same going into this season.”

The plot thickened when Reba stole a contestant from Gwen

Reba McEntire has never had beef with a fellow coach before; for example, she’s had a great relationship with previous “Voice” star Chance the Rapper. However, according to a source who spoke with the National Enquirer, McEntire and Gwen Stefani have been butting heads over who will be the reigning diva, and during the Season 26 blind auditions, “you could tell Gwen was less than thrilled playing second fiddle to Reba”.

Tensions purportedly rose between Stefani and McEntire when the “Fancy” singer tricked Stefani into giving up a contestant that McEntire wanted to claim for herself. During the battles round in Episode 8 of Season 26, Team Gwen’s Gabrielle Zabosky and Frankie Torres performed a duet of INXS’s “Never Tear Us Apart” that left coach Stefani in a tug of war over whom she should choose to bring with her to the knockouts round. Ultimately, the No Doubt frontwoman chose Zabosky. But in a turn of events, McEntire used her “steal” button — judges can only use it twice — to give Torres a second chance on her team.

Stefani seemed thankful that Torres was given another chance, even hugging McEntire after she slammed the button. But then, McEntire revealed her secret motive. “I loved her singing. I did a little play there because I did say Gabrielle, so you’d go with Gabrielle [and] I could have Frankie,” McEntire told Stefani, who replied with a “Wow!” In a clip following the sneaky maneuver, fellow coach Michael Bublé told McEntire: “That was some last-minute stuff right there, ” to which she responded, “Really tricky”.