This year’s The Voice Australia coaching panel boasts an impressive line-up of stars: a member of the bestselling girl group of all time, the lead vocalist from one of the world’s best-loved boy bands, plus a Grammy Award winner and a platinum-selling Aussie singer-songwriter to boot.
But Ronan Keating, whose career in Boyzone began in 1993, says that, despite their individual accomplishments, there’s no vanity involved when it comes to landing contestants for their respective teams.
“There’s no sense of jumping for position,” the 48-year-old tells WHO. “All our egos, we leave them outside, and we just come in and have a good time.”
Although the Irish performer and fellow coach Kate Miller-Heidke, 43, do admit that a healthy dash of rivalry and some gentle ribbing still play a part in proceedings.
Read our full interview with Ronan and Kate below…
WHO: How are you both feeling about being on the panel this season?
Kate: It’s been so much fun this year for me. I’m just in love with all my three fellow coaches. I wouldn’t tell them that, obviously. But everybody is just so brilliant. Everyone’s got a sense of humour. There’s a lot of banter going on. There’s a lot of competition, obviously, but as a whole, it has just been very joyful.
Ronan: I have been lucky enough to be on The Voice panels around the world, and this is by far my favourite bunch of humans. Even though you’re using your skills to try to win over artists, nobody’s trying to outdo each other in that way that people play games. We’re all there to support the artists, not to push our own agenda. And everybody’s very comfortable hanging s**t on each other.
So there’s no rivalry?
Ronan: The competition is ripe. It’s proper. You need that, you know? And that’s what the show is all about – you have to be competitive and be able to sell yourself. So it’s pretty gruelling. And, a lot of the time, you lose if you’re running against Kate.
Kate: He’s given that back to me. I’ve been blocked by him and all of the other coaches as well. It’s a brutal game.
Ronan, you have a bit of history with the other two coaches…
Ronan: Richard [Marx] and I wrote together about 20 years ago. And I’ve known Melanie [Chisholm] for 30 years – we’re like brother and sister.
Kate, was this the first time you were meeting everyone?
Kate: Yes, and I admit I was intimidated on the first day, going, “Oh my God, these three are, like, megastars. I don’t deserve to be here. I’m just a little old Aussie.” But they were always just so welcoming and warm. From the very beginning, nobody ever made me feel like I didn’t deserve to be there.
You were on the panel last year. Are you doing anything differently this season?
Kate: I think last year was such a steep learning curve for me, having never done any TV before. Whereas, this time around, I really feel more confident to not second-guess myself. If something moves me in that moment, I’m going to turn my chair.
Which team have you got your money on to take out the win this year?
Kate: Team Kate, obviously!
Ronan: Obviously, Team Ronan is the best team and the team everybody wants to be on, but Mel’s pulling out the big Spice Girl card, and we’re getting a lot of people going that way. She is a big threat.
You’re not throwing out the Boyzone card?
Ronan: I try it, but unfortunately, the 19-year-olds have no idea who Boyzone are. Richard pulls out the Grammy quite a bit – that’s always a tough one to battle against. And Kate sings, and then we’re all in trouble. So I tell you, it’s a hell of a panel to be on.
The Voice Australia airs Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays on Channel 7 and 7plus.
