The Voice coach Jessica Mauboy was left stunned during Monday’s episode when she realised a contestant she hadn’t turn her chair for was actually one of her most devoted fans.
Contestant Garret Lyon described Mauboy as his “biggest role model,” and confirmed that he’d already met her on several occasions. He said he was going on The Voice with one goal in mind: To have Mauboy turn her chair, and to then be mentored by her.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be – none of the coaches turned their chairs for Garret’s rendition of the JoJo song Leave (Get Out).
But Mauboy recognised him the second she laid eyes on him after the song. “Garret!” she exclaimed, telling her fellow coaches that she’d met him at many of her own shows over the years.
He pointed at Mauboy and shot her a momentarily icy look at not having turned her chair – but soon melted as she introduced him to the rest of the coaches and explained their history.
“Every time I’d do a show, Garret would be there, right at the front,” she said, while he chimed in to confess that posters of Mauboy had been “plastered on my wall since I was 12.”
Mauboy said there had been a few imperfections in Garret’s performance that stopped her from turning her chair, and encouraged him to find his own voice rather than mimicking the record. So while he might not have made it through the blind auditions, she did offer him a sweet consolation prize, taking to the stage so they could perform the song again – this time as a duet.
“Jess, do you just know everyone in Australia?” fellow judge Rita Ora asked after the performance – a reference to it being the second time in Monday’s episode that Mauboy had been surprised by a contestant with whom she had a prior connection.
Earlier, contestant Ezra Williams had both Ora and Mauboy turning their chairs with her energetic rendition of the Lizzo song It’s About Time – but Ora knew she didn’t stand a chance at being picked as her coach when Williams revealed she is the sister of Mauboy’s former Young Divas bandmate, Emily Williams.
“Shut the front gate!” said Mauboy when she realised the connection. “I was in a girl group with her sister … we go way back. This connection is strong.”
Meanwhile, a night earlier in Sunday’s season premiere, a young Australian boy band wowed all four coaches, with Jason Derulo declaring they could explode “around the world”.