Why The Voice winner Karise Eden turned down All Stars: ‘What the hell?’

Over 48 million people have watched Karise Eden’s show-stopping blind audition on The Voice from 2012, where she belted out It’s A Man’s World and received a simultaneous four-chair turn within seconds.

The 29-year-old singer-songwriter, who just released her powerhouse new single My Old Friend, has now opened up about winning the competition, why she said no to All Stars, and her new music as an independent artist.

“It feels like another lifetime ago really,” she tells Yahoo Lifestyle about being crowned The Voice champion almost a decade ago, before adding with a laugh, “I kind of forget about it.

“I'm definitely grateful I got an amazing opportunity to live through my artistry for 10 years since making the choice to go on The Voice, but there's definitely some ifs, buts, whats and maybes I could’ve done differently.”

RELATED:

• Why Dami Im wanted to change the world’s expectations of her after X Factor

• Isaiah Firebrace says he was ‘worked to the bone’ after X Factor win

• How Jessica Mauboy is ‘taking charge’ in her new musical era: ‘A rebirth’

“You’ve got contracts and people shoved upon you via contracts where things didn't work out,” she continues. “And you go through these horrible situations with people and things and sometimes you can get a bit angry about that side of things.

“But I'm always grateful and always thankful because I still get to sing to people that enjoy what I do. So how could you be mad at that?”

‘Why would I want to ruin my reign?’

In 2019, The Voice tried out an All Stars format for the first time which featured contestants from previous seasons of the show, as well as The X Factor and Australia’s Got Talent.

While Karise ended up making her return to the stage for a performance of her iconic audition song with the top 16 contenders, she now reveals that she was actually asked by producers to compete on the show that year.

“They asked me to come back to be a contestant and I said, ‘Um, no’,” she shares.

“Like, I won the first one, why would I want to ruin my reign? You know, ‘Queen Voice Australia’. Why would I put myself in that position again?”

“I was like, I’ll come back as a guest host or judge or something, and then we ended up agreeing on coming back and I sang It’s A Man’s World. But yeah, I was like ‘I’m not coming back as a contestant. What the hell? What do you think this is? I’m done, thank you.’”

She does, however, say that she would “totally” make a return to a different kind of reality TV show in the future.

“Maybe not in a singing competition thing, I don’t want to ruin the good vibe if I don’t live up to my old standard again,” she remarks. “Something in a different alley for sure, I’m up for it.”

‘It was pretty scary’

After welcoming her second child in January and taking a three-year break from music, Karise released her new self-written single, My Old Friend, earlier this month.

“It's been quite a few years since I've released anything and I feel like it's my first time all over again,” she says.

“Taking this song out into the world, it was pretty scary. You get a little insecure and think ‘I hope everybody likes me’, but I’ve got to learn to not worry about that.”

My Old Friend, which is the first track from her upcoming EP due in 2022, sees Karise bare her soul in a way she’s never done before.

“I've always been known to sort of shield myself off from the public a bit, but I really opened up with this song,” she says. “It’s my first song released as an independent artist and I really wanted to do something and give something that was really from my heart.

“I lost somebody that was really important in my life in a tragic way, and I guess that's what the whole song is about. If you’ve lost someone that you love, raise a glass and give them a cheers so we can always remember those people.”

Speaking about becoming an independent artist, Karise admits that she was “incredibly scared” but views it as “the biggest step towards freedom”.

“I’ve always had these people in the background just controlling me, and it was comforting to know they were always there,” she details.

“I've always been very grateful and never really said a bad word ever about my team or the record company, but I guess the new Karise that’s slowly growing has got an opportunity to sort of share a bit more and I’m not so caged. In the EP, that's where that's going to come out.”

You can stream Karise Eden’s new single My Old Friend on all music platforms here.

Never miss a thing. Sign up to Yahoo Lifestyle’s daily newsletter.

Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@yahooinc.com.