Jennifer Hudson returns to The Voice as season 26 mega mentor with first-timer Sting

The Grammy-winner previously served as a coach in seasons 13 and 15.

Jennifer Hudson is coming home to The Voice — this time with an upgraded title.

After serving as a coach on two seasons of the singing competition show, Hudson is making her grand return in season 26 as a “mega mentor.” And she won’t be the only one: the Police frontman Sting — a rock legend and 17-time Grammy-winner — will be making his The Voice debut in the same role.

Together, Hudson and Sting will help the current mentors prepare their artists to compete in the show’s Knockouts round, which sees the singers face off against two other competitors for a chance to remain on the show. Hudson is slated to pair up with coaches Michael Bublé and Reba McEntire while Sting will join Snoop Dogg and Gwen Stefani.

Jennifer Hudson (left) and Sting (right).Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty; Tristar Media/Getty

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This marks the first time that The Voice has called upon two mega mentors in a single season, as opposed to one artist splitting their time between all four teams. The news also means Hudson will make her first return to the series since serving as a coach in seasons 13 and 15.

While Hudson didn’t manage to eke out a win in either of her two seasons on The Voice US, she also appeared in three seasons of the franchise’s UK edition, where she snagged a win with singer Mo Jamil Adeniran during her very first year.

Hudson might find herself mentoring a future The Voice winner once again, when she meets the singers hand-selected by Bublé and McEntire.

Jennifer Hudson.Trae Patton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Hudson, an EGOT winner and celebrated vocalist, was no stranger to the world of singing competitions even before making her The Voice debut. Her rise to fame came on the heels of placing seventh on the third season of American Idol. Though she didn’t walk away as the season’s winner, the singer has often stated that she is grateful to have gotten as far as she did.

“By the time I was eliminated, I felt I had gotten an opportunity to display who I was as an artist, so I was okay with being eliminated,” the singer said on her talk show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, in 2022. “And then once I was, I was like, ‘You know what, you’re walking away with your talent, you’re walking away with your gift. The competition may be over but your passion isn’t, your love and your drive isn’t.'”

The Voice begins the three-way Knockouts on Monday, Nov. 11.