Earlier this week, NBC’s The Voice crowned a new winner! Asher HaVon, the season 25 champ, is the first openly LGBTQ artist to place first on the iconic singing competition. 

Mentored by country legend Reba McEntire, HaVon won over the hearts of millions with his powerful covers of songs like “I Will Always Love You” and “Set Fire to the Rain.”

The soulful gospel and R&B artist joined GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos to talk about his experience on the show.

HaVon starts by praising his coach on the season. “Reba created such a safe place for me to come in and be my authentic self. 

It was so easy to let down walls that I had built over the years.” This season marked McEntire’s first win as a coach on the series as well. 

“It was just such a great time with her,” he says.

As the first openly LGBTQ winner of the show, he felt especially grateful to have Reba’s support. A phrase as simple as “I’m proud of you,” from the legend, meant so much to HaVon. “Hearing that means the world, because you’re not proud of someone I’m pretending to be, but you’re proud of exactly who I am showing you I am.”

As an Alabama native, being true to who he is has always been of the utmost importance to HaVon. He thanks his mother for always “allowing me to be as expressive as I wanted to be… She allowed me to be myself.”

Now that he’s been crowned a winner, HaVon is excited to start releasing music of his own. He talks about how inspired he is by artists like Patti LaBelle, Whitney Houston, and Donna Summer. He says his first album will be “eclectic, disco, dance, pop, [and have] the ballads to make you weep and feel all the ‘oozies.’”

On his advice for future contestants on the show, he says, “Believe in your own voice. This show is called The Voice and your voice is The Voice.” He shares that when he first started on the show, “I thought I needed to almost sound like Adele, but what I found out was it was Asher HaVon’s voice interpreting Adele’s song but still my very much own rendition.”

He reveals that his dream collaboration would be with Ru Paul. “He’s more than an artist.” He says that Ru is a “fearless, beautiful entrepreneur. He took a dream and built an empire.”

HaVon offers advice for his LGBTQ fans, “It is okay to be you authentically. You are so beautiful. And more people see you than you could ever imagined.” He continues by saying, “You’re going to need some tough skin. So take it with grace and come out like a beautiful flower.”

The Voice Season 26 will return to NBC in Fall 2024 and feature coaches Reba McEntire as the reigning champ, alongside new coaches Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé and returning coach Gwen Stefani.

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Source: USA Today