Reality Check: Jennifer Hudson, Sting to mentor 'The Voice' contestants
EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson and rock-pop icon Sting will serve as mega-mentors on the current 26th season of the NBC singing competition “The Voice,” starting with Monday’s episodes. Former coach Hudson — a rare Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winner — returns for the first time since season 15, while this is 17-time Grammy winner Sting’s debut on the show.
Hudson joins coaches Michael Bublé and Reba McEntire while Sting joins coaches Snoop Dogg and Gwen Stefani to mentor the remaining singers as each team prepares for the Knockout Round.
Neither Hudson, who performed with Bublé and others Nov. 3 at the Hollywood Bowl celebration for songwriter David Foster’s 75th birthday, nor Sting, who on Thursday announced a co-headlining concert with Long Island legend Billy Joel in Milwaukee, on April 26, have commented on social media about their “Voice” appearances.
'Real' talk
Bravo “Real Housewives” franchise impresario Andy Cohen teased the upcoming 14th season of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” on his SiriusXM radio show last week after a call-in listener asked for tidbits.
“I love Boz, the new housewife,” Cohen 56, said of marketing executive Bozoma Saint John, a friend of longtime cast member Sutton Stracke. “Dorit [Kemsley] is very activated. She and Kyle [Richards], it’s kind of surprising to see where they go. I have to say … you see a different side of Kyle. I mean, Mo [estranged husband Mauricio Umansky, from whom Richards separated in 2023 after 27 years of marriage and three daughters] has moved out and she’s really trying to figure out what her life is, and she lives in kind of this big, empty house and it’s very surprising to see after we’ve been living with this woman for so many years, so something to look out for.”
Also appearing this season as cast members or supporting-cast friends are Garcelle Beauvais, Kathy Hilton, Erika Jayne and Jennifer Tilley. Crystal Kung Minkoff and Annemarie Wiley are not returning after season 13.
Finale
Joan Vassos, the inaugural star of ABC’s “The Golden Bachelorette,” chooses between Wichita, Kansas, insurance executive Charles "Chock" Chapple and Reno, Nevada, emergency room doctor Guy Gansert on the 90-minute season finale Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Premieres
Real estate maven and designer Christina Hall and her family put down roots in Tennessee, where she continues to take on home renovations in season 2 of “Christina in the Country,” Tuesday from 9 to 10:01 p.m. on HGVT … Opposite on A&E, it’s the back-to-back half-hour season 4 premiere episodes of “Road Wars,” with videos of not just road rage but also the effects of wild weather and even some acts of kindness. If you only want “Extreme Road Ragers,” however, stay tuned from 10:01 to 11:04 p.m. for that new series … Wednesday form 9 to 10:01 p.m. om HGTV, heed the advice of Drew and Jonathan Scott and “Don’t Hate Your House with the Property Brothers,” as they help people with dysfunctional house designs turn them into harmonious homes … Thursday on Food Network, with a two-hour opener at 8 p.m., the new competition “Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking” stars James and Oliver Phelps (who played the film series’ Fred and George Weasley) and judges Carla Hall and Jozef Youssef as teams of bakers and confectioners compete to make magic. Among them: Zoe Burmester, of Brooklyn, and Miko Uy, of Astoria, Queens … and Friday night from 9:08 to 10:12 on Discovery, Jared Douglas and his crew of loggers style themselves “The Last Woodsmen” as they chop down trees and eat their lunch in the Pacific Northwest.
Recaps
“House of Villains” banished Camilla Poindexter of “Bad Girls Club” … The Battle Round concluded on “The Voice” … and Sierra Wright is right off “Survivor.”