As a fan of The Voice, an international reality television singing competition franchise, I was worried when Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani announced their relationship status as “dating.”

Trying to comprehend this large and surprising news was hard at first, but as I saw the first episode of season 12, the first season after the announcement of their relationship, I realized not much has changed.

Stefani and Shelton still go head-to-head chasing singers for their own teams, they are just a little more passive aggressive about fighting for their teams with one another. In previous seasons, Stefani and Shelton had a rivalry and would always fight for aspiring artists they wanted on their team. This passionate fighting has subdued this season to a mere sideways glace when the significant other steals an artist from them.

This change has caused the season to become boring to me. I enjoyed seeing them fight for the singer they wanted on their team. It made it more interesting.

It is clear in the first two episodes that the new couple is still comprehending how they should act on cameras and around the other coaches, Adam Levine and Alicia Keys. I am hoping they figure out their working relationship now that they are a couple as the season continues.

Fans of the voice, especially myself, hope that this new public relationship does not affect the show. The Voice will hopefully continue despite any relationship issues that could arise.

The Voice airs Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC.