The Voice kicked off its first night of three-way Knockouts on Monday night (November 11), but the competition was missing one contestant, Tanner Frick, who shockingly chose to exit the series.
Throughout the episode, coaches Reba McEntire, Snoop Dogg, and Gwen Stefani paired up three members of their teams for the highly-anticipated Knockouts sing-offs that would see the winner advance to the Playoffs. However, when it came time for Michael Bublé to select his team, it came with an unexpected announcement.
Host Carson Daly told the “Feeling Good” singer, “Michael, Tanner left the competition after rehearsals. You still have Cameron [Wright] and Sloane [Simon].” Wright and Simon ended up facing off in a one-on-one battle, with Bublé ultimately selecting Simon to move on in the competition.
Viewers were left wondering what happened to Frick and why he suddenly decided to drop out of the show. NBC has yet to comment on the matter, and Frick hasn’t spoken about the issue directly.
However, Frick did post a cryptic message on his social media accounts that many fans have taken as a reference to The Voice. Hours before the episode, Frick shared a video on Instagram and TikTok, which included a snippet of a new song, captioned, “Ain’t nobody want me anyway.”
Frick, a 26-year-old country singer who lives in Manchester, Tennessee, earned a four-chair turn in the Blind Auditions for his performance of Morgan Wallen‘s “Thought You Should Know.” After four passionate pitches from the coaches, Frick chose to join Team Reba.
During last week’s Battles, Frick went up against fellow Team Reba contestant Tane Renner, where the pair sang a rendition of Jelly Roll‘s “Need a Favor.” Ultimately, McEntire chose Renner as the winner, leaving Frick open to be stolen by another coach.
Waiting until the very last second, Bublé hit his button and stole Frick for his team. “Tanner Frick is a huge win for me,” Bublé said afterward. “That’s a four-chair turn and a piece of the puzzle that I didn’t have. I needed that country singer, and now I feel like I’m completely in the game, and my team is assembled.”
Now, just a week later, Frick has walked away from the competition, leaving his fans with many questions.
“You were definitely one of my favs!! Why did you quit? Praying everything is ok!!!!” wrote one Instagram commenter.
“Oh no, where did you go? I felt like you could win the voice. Love your voice! Please keep pursuing singing Country Music,” said another.
“Beautiful voice, don’t know why you left but you are a star!” another added.
Another wrote, “You could have won it all. Sorry you left hope everything’s ok.”
The Voice, Season 26, Mondays, 8 p.m. ET/PT, Tuesdays, 9 p.m. ET/PT, NBC (streaming next day on Peacock)
