Why Gwen Called Herself “So Dumb” for Losing Jacquie Roar After Her “Emphatic” Playoff

Roar’s standout performance gave Stefani regrets for letting her four-turn Artist steal away to Team Reba.

Jacquie Roar started her Season 24 journey on The Voice as part of Team Gwen, thanks to a coveted four-chair turn that let her have her early pick of Coaching mentors. But during the Battles, it was Reba McEntire who stepped in to steal Jacquie away, after Stefani seemed ready to cut her loose in favor of fellow Team Gwen talent BIAS.

In hindsight, letting Jacquie slip away to Team Reba just might’ve been a mistake  — especially after she wowed Gwen (and the rest of the Coaches) with a confidently intense Playoff-round performance of Fleetwood Mac’s 1970s classic “The Chain.”

Roar’s powerful, Stevie Nicks-worthy spin on the smash-hit song had Stefani wishing out loud for all that might’ve been… if she’d only kept Jacquie for herself in the first place.

Watch Jacquie Roar sing Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” on The Voice Season 24

Jacquie Roar performs on “The Blind Auditions Part 4” Episode 2404 of The Voice. Photo: Tyler Golden/NBC

Roar’s raw-edged but nuanced vocal delivery had all the Coaches caught up in the moment, and drew out more than just one approving “whoah!” from John Legend and Niall Horan. “This is my favorite Jacquie performance so far — it was so good!” said Legend afterward. “You made such an emphatic statement on your behalf with this performance. You were so tasteful in everything you did with the arrangement. I absolutely loved it.”

At least Gwen wasn’t shy about sharing her regret over letting Jacquie steal away from her team. “I was sitting here going, ‘Who are you, Gwen Stefani? Like, how could you let her go to Reba? Like, you’re so dumb!’” She freely admitted after Roar’s set was finished.

It was Jacquie’s composed control over the song’s raw energy that had Stefani especially kicking herself. “You just never seem to look nervous,” Gwen explained. “You know exactly what you’re doing. To be able to take that song and make it into the perfect ‘Voice’ competition moment — and you kept turning up the gears higher and higher, and louder, and stronger — it was amazing!”

For McEntire, keeping Jacquie Roar around definitely paid off: At the end of the night’s Playoff round, she was one of the three Team Reba Artists still standing. And along with Jordan Rainer and Ruby Leigh, she’ll be standing in the show’s biggest spotlight yet with Live rounds just around the corner.

“They’re all three ‘country,’ but they’re all three different,” said McEntire. “You could put those three, package them on a concert tour — they’d each blow the audience away!”