Shocking news broke on Wednesday: For the first time in four seasons, Blake Shelton will not win “The Voice.” The country star’s final Team Blake contestant, Cole Vosbury, was kicked to the curb, paving the way for one of Christina Aguilera’s or Adam Levine’s mentees to win this week.
It’s a rare defeat for the guy who might just be the most popular male country star since Garth Brooks. In March, Shelton’s eighth studio album, “Based On a True Story . . . ,” topped Billboard’s country album charts and hit No. 3 in the all-genre category. This summer, he had his 10th consecutive No. 1 single, tying the record set by Brad Paisley.
Last month, he took home trophies for the Country Music Awards’ Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year.
And thanks to his show of down-home charisma on NBC’s “The Voice,” which attracts upwards of 10 million viewers every week, Shelton’s reach extends way, way beyond country music fans.
It’s been a good year to be Blake Shelton, except for one thing.
With pop-culture domination comes the rumor mill. “Blake Cheated on Miranda!” “Miranda Confronts Blake’s ‘Other’ Woman!” “Showdown With the Younger Woman.” Those are just a few of the headlines that paint Shelton as a low-down dirty dog betraying his wife, country singer Miranda Lambert.
So why these sorts of rumors and not ones about, say, nervous breakdowns or boozing (hey, the man loves to talk about spiking his on-air drinks)? Chalk it up to the very thing that makes everyone from Adam Levine to your grandma adore Shelton: his aw-shucks charm.
Zach Swon, whose duo the Swon Brothers was mentored by Shelton on the show last spring (they took third place), tells The Post, “Man, he’s charming. The guy’s got . . . the gift of gab — you can’t help but like him.”
You see it on “The Voice”: Unlike mentor Cee-Lo Green, who all but drools when vying for pretty contestants, Shelton woos and wins with his stealthily humble charisma. Or in his flirtatious interaction with fellow “The Tonight Show” guest Scarlett Johansson: When Jay Leno brought up Shelton’s wedding anniversary, the singer said, “Aw, don’t talk about that in front of Scarlett!” Or even in his tweets: “If y’all are watching the CMAs tonight I’ll be the loud drunk guy in the front row cheering for Carrie Underwood’s legs…”
One entertainment correspondent who’s interviewed him admits she found herself completely smitten with Shelton, 37, even though she has met dozens of Hollywood’s hottest. “You can’t explain it,” she says. “He’s really funny and nice, but also genuine.” She notes that the Southern twang certainly helps.
Over the years, Shelton has learned how to use his arsenal of distinct attributes — including a truly regrettable haircut, which he still had when he met Lambert — to his advantage. “He was telling me how his mullet was his secret weapon to attract girls back in the day,” reveals one music insider. “He said it was a great conversation starter. Then he’d seal the deal and these girls never even saw it coming.”
Lambert, 30, seems well aware of her husband’s panty-dropping charm, admitting to Us Weekly: “I like to see who he is following [on Twitter]: they are all hot girls. I check his direct messages.”
Shelton was still married to his first wife, Kaynette Williams, when he met Lambert in 2005. The singers collaborated on the CMT special “100 Greatest Duets,” and Lambert admitted to “Dateline” that there was a spark. A year later, Shelton and Williams were divorced. He and Lambert married in 2011.
Consider them country’s favorite new sweetheart story — even Shelton’s mom, Dorothy Shackleford, has referred to them as “the new Tim [McGraw] and Faith [Hill].”
Shelton told Redbook that “Miranda doesn’t want a wuss. She doesn’t want a whipped guy.” In their down time, the two hunt together (on their wedding reception menu: deer shot by Lambert) and hole up at their Oklahoma ranch.
Shelton puts a premium on loyalty and is “never going to listen to someone trash my wife.”
Of course, Lambert has to put up with her fair share of gossip decrying her husband, including rumors about him and former “Voice” contestant Cassadee Pope getting cozy. One of the most recent straying allegations was all over the Web in October, when aspiring actress Lindsey Sporrer caught the singer’s eye at Usher’s birthday party in LA. The two chatted all night and posed for a picture. The blonde gushed on Instagram that Shelton was “super sweet.”
While the scenario could fuel jealousy in any relationship, a friend of the couple insists they are more in love than ever: “They’re like a lot of superstar couples who have different rules than most when it comes to flirting and working certain situations,” the pal tells The Post. “They take most of these rumors with a grain of salt.”
In any case, Shelton has figured out his own secret to a happy marriage. As he’s said, “I think you’ve got to be confident and a little bit of a pushover.”