Watch Ste’s blind audition for Season 24 of The Voice

Adam Levine may no longer coach Voicebut his influence lives on.

South Carolina contestant Ste proved that on Monday night’s episode, performing Maroon 5’s soulful “Sugar,” which almost immediately provoked John Legend. Fellow trainers Gwen Stefani and Reba followed suit soon after, but Niall Horan’s attempt to join the fray was blocked by Legend.

RELATED: Why Niall Horan Tried to Call Blake Shelton After Ephraim Owens Auditioned for 4 Chairs

Watch John Legend Block Niall Horan in Maroon 5’s Blind Audition

“This makes me so upset,” a distraught Horan said, jokingly accusing Legend of having a “vendetta” against him.

“Life won’t always be easy for you, Niall,” Legend replied with a cheeky smile. “We all have adversity, we all have problems, we all get blocked—you know?”

Turning to Ste, he continued: “Singing a song by Adam Levine is a challenge because he is one of our most gifted pop singers in the world. He actually sat in that chair, and the fact that you convinced all of us that you could do an Adam Levine song is just amazing.”

Ste then made an emotional confession: his cousin and John Legend superfan Matthew was there to cheer him on backstage, but tragically passed away three weeks before filming began. “So I dedicate all of this to him,” he said. “And I have to say, ‘John! I want you to meet my cousin Matthew!” I just wanted to say thank you so much for giving so much to Matthew. You really helped him through some tough times.”

Suffice it to say that he decided to become part of Team Legend, and what’s more, John made it clear that he would not be intimidated by a brash young upstart like Niall Horan. “This young hooligan comes to Voice and wins its first season. He thinks he’s the king here, but I’m the OG. This is my eighth season and I won’t let him take the throne.”

There are only three episodes left in the new season and things are really heating up!

How to watch Voice Season 24

New episodes The is the voice airs on NBC every Monday and Tuesday at 8:00 pm EST and airs the following day on Peacock. Season 23 (OG coach Blake Shelton’s latest) can be found on Peacock.