It apparently doesn’t matter that Blake Shelton isn’t even on The Voice Season 27.

Coach Adam Levine loves his fellow Season 27 Coaches, the Artists, and the fans. But there’s one thing he dislikes about being back on The Voice, and it has to do with Blake Shelton… even though Shelton isn’t there any more. Of course.

Between Artists during the Blind Auditions on Monday night (February 24), new Coach Kelsea Ballerini compared notes with original Coach Levine, and the advice she got from longtime Coach and fellow country singer Shelton.

Adam Levine is still “beefing” with rival Blake Shelton on The Voice Season 27

“Blake really made me nervous. He said, ‘Adam’s tough. Sometimes he’s mean, he’s competitive. He’s ruthless,’” Ballerini revealed, before adding, “He was wrong! You’re lovely! You’re really nice!”

Levine countered that Shelton was probably “hazing” Ballerini by making her scared of Levine. Then they argued over whether Shelton was nice or mean at his core. “The one bad part of this season is I have to sit in this filthy chair,” Levine complained; Coach John Legend is in the seat Levine once held, and the Maroon 5 singer now sits where Shelton once did.

Levine and Shelton have a long-running friendship/rivalry on The Voice. They both started in Season 1, and Levine stayed through Season 16 before returning for Season 27, while Shelton left after Season 23. This dynamic that has clearly persisted now that Shelton is gone. In just a few episodes, Levine has already blamed Shelton for his bad luck with country Artists, mocked him over text, and insulted his chair repeatedly, previously calling it “mangy” and “musty.

Blake Shelton and Adam Levine are serious about their Voice chairs

Photo: Tyler Golden/NBC

Maybe it’s a guy thing? In an interview with NBC Insider, Shelton stressed what his chair meant to him. “The hardest part about filming my final season of The Voice is I’m very territorial about this particular chair that I’m sitting in,” Shelton said.

“I’m trying to negotiate and work out a deal where I can actually take my chair with me,” he added. “I mean, it’s one thing to say, ‘I’m handing my chair off to the next Coach’ or whatever, but I literally don’t want to hand my chair off to whoever the next Coach is… I don’t feel good about letting someone else use my Chair.”

Try a The Voice chair for yourself!

The iconic red chair is on a little tour! From now until March 4, a Voice Coach chair will be stationed at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture. Another chair will be at the Maroon 5 residency in Las Vegas’ Park MGM from March 5 through March 24.

Looking east, there will be a chair at the Mall of America in Minneapolis from March 31 through April 5, and at Ole Red (Blake Shelton’s restaurant) in Orlando, Florida, from March 10 through April 14!