Reba McEntire tricks Gwen Stefani on ‘The Voice’ to steal her contestant: ‘I did a little play there’

Reba McEntire pulled a fast one on Gwen Stefani in order to steal a singer for her team on “The Voice.”

During the Oct. 22 episode of the singing show, Frankie Torres and Gabrielle Zabosky, both of whom were on Gwen Stefani’s team, sang their hearts out during The Voice Battles, when only one artist advances to the next round. The loophole, though, is that another coach can steal card the singer who would otherwise go home.

The pair sang a beautiful rendition of “Never Tear Us Apart,” with Torres adding some rock flair while Zabosky took a more pop-centric approach. The performance between the two singers, who both received four-chair turns during the Blind Auditions, was chock-full of melodic harmonies.

Their performance received a standing ovation from all the coaches, then each of them dived into their feedback.

Michael Bublé complimented both performers but ultimately said he was leaning toward choosing Zabosky as the winner of the singing battle. Snoop Dogg said he was “thoroughly impressed,” mentioning that Stefani’s decision would be a difficult one.

McEntire praised both of the contestants’ voices, then saying firmly, “If I had to choose, I think I’d go with Gabrielle.”

Stefani struggled with who choose as the winner, taking time to put her hands on her head and say, “Please, somebody steal my girls!”

Eventually, Stefani followed Bublé and McEntire’s advice and declared Zabosky the winner, noting, “Gabrielle really stepped it up and she’s super talented. I think the more confident she gets, we’re going to see more vocal ability. I had to go with Gabrielle.”

That meant that Torres was eliminated, and the show’s closing music began to play as Stefani put a spotlight on Torres’ talent.

As Snoop was saying his goodbye to Torres, a smiling McEntire leaned forward and at the last second, used her steal to save Torres, immediately eliciting a hug from Stefani as her plea from earlier had been answered.

McEntire then turned to Stefani to let her in on her sneaky scheme.

“I loved her singing. I did a little play there,” McEntire admitted. “I did say Gabrielle so you’d go with Gabrielle so I could have Frankie.”

Stefani pointed at McEntire with her mouth open, only being able to let out a shocked “wow” before McEntire turned back to Torres and continued on.

“Either way, I was gonna steal because I loved your performance, your singing, everything about it.”

As Torres moved to Team Reba, there didn’t seem to be any bad blood between Stefani and McEntire with Stefani smiling and clapping along.

“She’s amazing,” Stefani told McEntire.