‘The Voice’: Reba McEntire Talks Taking Over for Blake Shelton (Exclusive)

Reba McEntire, who served as an adviser to the coaches this season on “The Voice,” has been tapped as a full-time coach for Season 24 of the singing competition!

The country star will have her own big red chair this season alongside Niall Horan and returning coaches Gwen Stefani and John Legend.

“Extra’s” Melvin Robert caught up with Reba, who talked about taking over for Blake Shelton.

Mel asked, “Back in Season 1, you were approached to be a judge. You did not accept. Why is now the perfect time?

“Timing is everything,” she said. “And everything happens for a reason. So here I am. It worked out.”

She gushed, “I'm dating Rex Linn and he's from L.A., so it makes it nice to be out here during this time. I have a lot of friends in L.A. from the ‘Reba’ TV show, so it’s like my second home.”

What kind of judge will she be? “What I have learned from being the mega mentor, just to encourage and give them pointers of how to perform onstage… What I do best is the communication with the audience. For an artist, that’s what I’ll do.”

Melvin asked, “What are you most excited about?” She confessed, “Getting in that chair and turning it around!”

Earlier, Robert spoke with Blake about Reba joining "The Voice."

He praised McEntire, saying, “Well there's a couple of things about Reba that makes her so special. First of all, she's just so authentic. I don't know anybody country, or on the planet, [who is more authentic than] Reba, and that's just the truth, but the other thing is her talent... She was born with this raw, natural talent that's just unbelievable. People will finally maybe start to realize what an incredible vocalist she is. I shouldn't say that; millions of us already know that. But so many more people are going to realize what an incredible vocalist she is because she's going to, as a coach on this show, perform at times, you know, and it's just, it's shocking what an incredible singer she is.”