John Legend Look-Alike Auditions for ‘The Voice’ and Shocks the Coaches: ‘What’s Up, Twin!’
A contestant named Talakai shocked the vocal coach during Monday night’s episode of the reality competition series
John Legend met his match on The Voice — literally!
On Monday night’s episode, a 34-year-old contestant named Talakai impressed the judges with his vocals and striking resemblance to Legend, 44, who is among the vocal coaches on the reality competition series.
The singer from Sacramento, California chose to do a rendition of Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me” and captivated Legend with his soulful voice after only several verses. As soon as the “All of Me” artist turned his chair around, he smiled, instantly recognizing that his look-alike was performing before him.
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Reba McEntire also ended up hitting her button and swiveling her chair to see the vocalist, but Legend made sure to tell costars Gwen Stefani and Niall Horan to brace themselves before turning around. “Wait until you see his face,” he said. “I’m looking at myself! Like, a taller, more handsome version of myself.”
“What’s up, Twin!” Talakai joked from the stage.
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Talakai of ‘The Voice’ and John Legend.The Voice/NBC; Art Streiber/NBC
The Grammy winner appeared genuinely flabbergasted in the moment. He shared, “On the internet, a lot of times people will send me pictures of people that they think look like me. Most of the time, I’m like, ‘Not really.’ Then I turn around and look at you and we have the same haircut. I’m like, ‘He really, legitimately looks like me.’”
Talakai admitted that he’s gotten the comparison more than a few times. “Every day at work, I get it. In school, they used to sing ‘Ordinary People’ down the hallway all the time,” he said.
“I’m sorry I’ve been haunting you,” Legend joked. “But now you’re on The Voice and I would love to have you on Team Legend.”
While Horan, 30, offered a thoughtful critique, McEntire, 68, shared how impressed she was with the singer, despite knowing he would end up going with Legend as his coach. “I’ll tell you: I absolutely love your voice, your range,” the country music star said. “I know I don’t have a chance against John. I just wanted to come out and watch you. I’m already a huge fan, so welcome to The Voice.”
The aspiring star did in fact go with Legend, who jumped up from his seat to celebrate and take a selfie with his doppelgänger.
According to NBC Insider, ahead of Talakai’s audition, he opened up about being raised by his grandparents and ending up in the foster care system when they died. “I’ve been in about 10 homes. I went through physical and mental abuse. Throughout that time, I would always turn to music and that helped me through those dark times,” he revealed on the show.
The Voice kicked off its 24th season on Sept. 25, with new episodes airing every Monday on NBC.
PEOPLE spoke to McEntire earlier this year about joining the show and replacing Blake Shelton, who left the series after Season 23.
She shared, “The country lane — I’m taking over for Blake so I’m gonna represent country music. [He’s got] big boots. I don’t know what size those boots are, but they’re big, so I’m gonna really work hard to make him proud.”
PEOPLE also recently caught up with all four judges ahead of the premiere. When asked what’s been most surprising about the new season, the “Slow Hands” artist joked, “How mean Gwen Stefani is to me. It’s honestly truly shocking.”
Stefani, 54, got in on the joke, too. She added, “All of the girls in the whole world are going to be so mad at me! We’re playing. It’s a joke. He likes it.”
