Christina Aguilera Will Never Return to The Voice After This

Christina Aguilera has not been a coach on The Voice since 2016, and it doesn't sound like she'll be going back anytime soon, if ever.

In an interview with Billboard, the singer, who was a coach on NBC's vocal competition show for five intermittent seasons from 2011 to 2016, had nothing positive to say about her former employer, calling the show a "churning hamster wheel" and an "energy sucker" that left her "longing for freedom."

The most telling quote is as follows:

When I ask Aguilera if she'd ever return to The Voice, she scrunches up her porcelain face and says she would prefer to discuss "positive things." Still, she can't help but delve into what was wrong with the show, which was a lot. "It became something that I didn't feel was what I had signed up for in season one," she says. "You realize it's not about music. It's about making good TV moments and massaging a story.

"I didn't get into this business to be a television show host and to be given all these [rules]," she continues. "Especially as a female: You can't wear this, can't say that. I would find myself on that show desperately trying to express myself through clothing or makeup or hair. It was my only kind of outlet."

Mark Burnett just deleted her number.

It's perhaps telling that in Aguilera's final season, she mentored winner Alisan Porter, a former child star and recovering alcoholic who it has been argued won more for her compelling backstory than her vocal ability (which is very strong, don't get me wrong).

In any case, it doesn't sound like Aguilera has any interest in ever going back, and is instead refocused on her music career, with her first album in six years, Liberation, coming out next month, and her first tour in a decade in the works.

The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/7c on NBC.