For the star coaches on The Voice the most heart-wrenching moment of each season has been cutting two of their team members from making the final 12.

And for new coach Gwen Stefani, her first time having to deliver the terrible news proved a little too emotional on Wednesday night and left her in tears.

‘Look I’m gonna cry – I’m nursing still so I’m a little bit emotional,’ the new mum said to explain away the tears welling up in her eyes.

It was the No Doubt star’s first time in the live eliminations, where two of her final five contestants were saved by viewers’ votes – leaving her to decide which one of the remaining three would go through.

And as she struggled to deliver the news, Gwen, 45, came across as the biggest fan of the wannabes – insisting they had inspired her band to write new material and then begging them to keep in touch.

‘I’ve learned so much by you, you inspire me so much,’ she told her team.

‘We’ve written songs because of being around you guys. Thank you so much for coming into my life. I’m just honored that you trust me – that makes me grow.

‘I’m gonna miss you and we should email and keep in contact! I don’t know – I love you guys!’

After the viewers’ vote saved Taylor John Williams, who Gwen called ‘so effortless, a star’, and reggae singer Anita Antoinette, Gwen finally announced that she would also keep Ryan Sill, the young singer with boy band looks.

It meant she was forced to end the dream for Ricky Manning and Bryana Salaz, who burst into tears at the decision.

But Gwen referred them to comments fellow coach Pharrell Williams had made to his team earlier, which Gwen admitted she found ‘very inspiring’.

The complete opposite of Gwen, Pharrell had smiled at his team as he assured them that they were all winners because they had had such phenomenal exposure.

’It’s up to you to maximize this time, this incredible NBC prime time we had here,’ he said, stressing that everyone was going home at some point.

‘The second part is what you’re going to do after the show. Go to the record labels this week and say, ”Hey, you saw me on the show, I did great. I need a shot.”

‘This is your moment. This is your time. If you let somebody make your decision you’ll waste it.’

After telling his team that they had all ‘ascended and made me very, very, very proud’, Pharrell was told that the viewers had saved soul singer Luke Wade and stay-at-home mum DaNica Shirey.

Pharrell then said he was saving Sugar Joans, saying it was because he ‘had talked a lot about you’, after earlier predicting they would one day make a record together.

It meant he was forced to send home Elyjuh Rene, who earlier had seemed a favorite for the show, as well as Jean Kelley.

While all those picked for the final 12 clearly had a lot to celebrate, Reagan James had even more than most – it was also her 16th birthday.

She had earlier said that being voted through would be ‘the coolest birthday present ever’ – and she got it right at the beginning of the night, as the first contestant to be told she was through.

Reagan – who coach Blake Shelton has called ‘one of the most important artists that we’ve ever had on The Voice’ – was quickly followed by gruff voiced country singer Craig Wayne Boyd in being saved by viewers from Blake’s final five.

Blake was thrilled as he thought in the live playoffs Craig had ‘poured gasoline on the stage, threw a match on it and blew the roof off the stage’.

He then picked Jessie Pitts to join them – surprisingly sending home handsome country James David Carter as well as Taylor Brashears.

‘You’re walking away from this so much further forward in your career,’ he told them.

Adam Levine was the final coach to make his choice – and only finally announcing it with seconds to go before the show went off air.

Soulful airport security agent Damien and tattooed Matt McAndrew, who took on the daunting task of singing the Beach Boys’ God Only Knows in the playoffs, were saved by the public vote.

 Adam with time dwindling finally picked handsome Chris Jamison to join them.

‘The ladies love him, which never hurts,’ he’d said earlier of the contestant.

It meant he sent home Taylor Phelan and Mia Pfirrman, after assuring them they had been part of ‘the best team’ in the competition.

On a night mostly full of tension from tough decisions, there was also a lighter moment as Damien, a Transportation Security Administration agent, brought out a pocketknife Blake had earlier teased him about losing when he went through security in Nashville.

‘You got my damn pocket knife?’ Blake asked in amazement, hugging Damien and kissing him several times on the cheek before the contestant pulled himself away.