Camila Cabello had an awkward moment while judging on the US version of The Voice, after she thought a contestant was her ex-boyfriend and fellow pop star Shawn Mendes.
The two artists began dating in 2019 but announced their split in November 2021 via their respective Instagram pages.
“Hey guys we’ve decided to end our romantic relationship, but our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever,” their posts read at the time.
But this week, Cabello was a little blindsighted after a contestant sang Mendes’s song “Mercy”.
“Is that my — is that Shawn up there?” said Cabello while judging contestant Tanner Howe’s vocal on the episode.”I thought that was Shawn.”
Cabello judges on The Voice alongside Blake Shelton, John Legend and Gwen Stefani. While wondering if the contestant could actually be her ex, Cabello turned to the judges for confirmation.
“I was like, is Shawn onstage right now?” she said to Tanner.
Legend agreed: “You sounded like him,” he told Tanner.
However, Cabello was the only contestant who did not turn around for Tanner, citing his inability to “distinguish” himself.
“The reason I didn’t turn around was I felt like you sounded a little bit too much like him,” said Cabello, after saying that she knows Mendes “better than anyone in this room”.
“Obviously, he has an amazing voice. I love this song. But I would be curious when you pick your coach for you to just kind of distinguish yourself.”
Tanner said he understood her decision but said he saw himself in the same “lane” as Mendes.
“I was in his [Shawn’s] lane, deeply” said Cabello in response, making a joke about their time together.
Legend then chipped in: “She’s trying to make it as awkward as possible.”
