Though Sting was hesitant to take on the role of mega mentor on The Voice, when he walked on set, he felt right at home.
Speaking to PEOPLE about his role on the singing competition show, The Police frontman. revealed why he was initially hesitant about it — but ended up being perfect for the job.
“I have a confession to make,” Sting, 73, who will mentor Snoop Dogg and Gwen Stefani’s teams, told PEOPLE exclusively. “I’d never seen The Voice.”
“When I was given the premise of the show, I was a little bit anxious, but I know Gwen very well. I’m a big admirer of Snoop Dogg, and so I thought, I’m going to take a risk. I’m going to go on the show even though I’m a little trepidatious,” he continues.
What he found was that giving the contestants even “the nearest hint of advice and seeing that come to fruition” was “nourishing and joyful.”
“I really feel good about the show. I feel good about myself, and I feel good about the young singers who are putting themselves through this ordeal. It is an ordeal, but I’ve loved it so far,” he said.
Long before Sting’s award-winning music career, he was a middle school teacher — making him the perfect fit to be a mentor.
“In teaching, there’s no such thing as teaching, actually. What happens in a classroom is learning and people learn through enthusiasm. A teacher’s job is just to be enthusiastic, show appreciation, curiosity,” he said. “And that’s your job here. To do the same thing, to be curious.”
As for his relationship with Stefani, Sting first met her when she was just a fan at 13 years old. Then, in 2003, Sting and her band No Doubt performed together at the Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show.
“She’s been a friend over the years and I so admire her,” the “Roxanne” singer explained.
“I’m so impressed by her ability to communicate with the singers so succinctly and so intelligently, so compassionately. And it’s not an easy job. And she does it with such aplomb.”
Meanwhile, on Oct. 10, Snoop revealed that Sting will be featured on his upcoming solo album Missionary — and the rapper was so excited to work with him.
“Like a child that’s infatuated with somebody as a singer, and you get a chance to meet them and they give you everything you expected, that’s what happens with me all the time,” Snoop said. “I meet people I’ve always wanted to meet and they’re everything I wanted them to be.”
In addition to Sting, Jennifer Hudson will also be joining the show as a mega mentor for Michael Bublé and Reba McEntire’s teams for knockouts, which begin on Nov. 11.
In September, Sting — who’s currently on his Sting. 3.0. tour — released his latest single titled “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart).”
“I want people to say, I didn’t expect that from Sting,” he says. “For me, that’s the essence of music. So I always want to surprise people by what they hear.”
The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC at 8 p.m. ET, and episodes are available to stream on Peacock the next day.
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