BLAKE SHELTON CLAIMS ANY TEARS AT "THE VOICE" FINALE WERE TEARS OF JOY, EXPLAINS WHAT THE SHOW MEANT TO HIM

Blake Shelton's run as the longest-tenured coach on "The Voice" is over. The OG coach had been there from the beginning, and put a bow on his epic run with last night's Season 23 finale.

Prior to the show, Blake was hit up for an interview in which he explained that, while it's bound to be an emotional night, that fans shouldn't misunderstand. "If I cry in the finale, don't misunderstand it. It may be tears of joy."

Blake went on to say that the twelve years spent on "The Voice" coincided with the most important part of his life. "What it did for my personal life, what it did for my career, new friends I've made, it's just been a once in a lifetime thing...I have a lot of friends (who told me) 'This will never happen again... very few times does a show become this big and you get to take this ride...and now looking back after twelve years I can see what they mean...it's like hitting the lottery.'"

See our "The Voice" recap here, 

Source: ExtraTV