THE VOICE fans are going to love this season’s two new coaches, Queen Latifah and Riley Green.
“Queen Latifah is someone we have wanted for so long,” THE VOICE executive producer Audrey Morrissey told TV Insider ahead of the singing competition’s 30th season.
Morrissey said the show had previously hoped to bring the Grammy-winning rapper and actress aboard as a mentor, but the timing never worked. Now Queen Latifah has a full-time red chair, and her presence apparently changed the temperature in the room almost immediately.
“She has this internal light switch. She literally radiates,” she said.
The contestants felt it too. Morrissey described Queen Latifah as such a strong draw that she had to choose carefully when to turn, because artists who had not planned to join her team often changed course once they saw her.
“She was like a magnetizer,” Morrissey said. Contestants who had not planned to choose Queen Latifah still felt her pull.
Related: THE VOICE Coaches Find Fresh Purpose in Season 30: ‘Watching People Be Brave Is Inspiring’
“He is so funny,” the producer said of country singer-songwriter Green. She described him as a Southern gentleman with a razor-sharp, dry wit, giving the panel a quieter comic energy that can still land a punchline.
Comparisons with country singer and longtime coach Blake Shelton are inevitable, particularly because Green is the first solo male country coach to follow him into the show’s giant red seats. Morrissey said Green has his own comic rhythm, while NBC has already revealed one of his playful strategies: saving his trademark cowboy hat for the moments when he really wants an artist to know he means business.
Queen Latifah arrives with a résumé that refuses to stay in one lane. NBC highlighted her work as a Grammy-winning hip-hop pioneer, singer and actress when announcing her coaching debut, which means she can meet contestants across genres rather than pushing every voice toward the same mold.
Green already knows the stage, even if the chair is new. He performed during THE VOICE finales in Seasons 26 and 28 before the show invited him to coach, giving him a useful view of the pressure contestants face when the cameras are rolling and one performance can change a career.
Queen Latifah and Green will join returning singer-coaches Kelly Clarkson and Adam Levine. NBC said both veterans have four wins, giving the rookies experienced competition from the first blind audition.
“The coach dynamic, it just felt great from moment one,” Morrissey said. She credited Clarkson and Levine’s experience, but said the two newcomers understood the job instantly.
The producer’s comments add a lighter layer to what Movieguide® recently reported about Season 30: the coaches see their role as more than celebrity competition. They want to help artists grow, take brave steps and build careers rooted in real work rather than a quick burst of attention.
The format asks singers to make a deeply personal choice. A coach may offer trophies, contacts and technical skill, but contestants also have to sense who will listen when the cameras move closer and the competition gets uncomfortable.
That combination — magnetism, dry humor and genuine mentorship — could keep the milestone season lively without losing the people at its center. THE VOICE premieres Monday, Sept. 21, at 8/7c on NBC, with episodes available the next day on Peacock.
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