The Voice's Asher HaVon Tells All About Coach Reba, Wigging Out and Scoring a Win for His LGBTQ+ Fam
The confetti has scarcely settled after Tuesday's Season 25 finale of The Voice (recapped here). But already, TVLine has connected with the NBC sing-off's newly minted winner, Asher HaVon. Here, the native of Selma, Ala., spills the tea on coach Reba McEntire, scoring a victory for the LGBTQ+ community and rocking those amazing outfits.
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TVLINE | Congratulations, Asher! Tell me, was there a point in the competition where you started to think, "Ya know what? I just might win this thing"?
Well, no! [Laughs] There was so much talent that there was not one point that I felt that, even [in the finale]. I think we were all thinking, "This is anybody's game." I mean, I wanted to win, of course! I really, really, really wanted to, but I never thought I could, honestly.
TVLINE | Even after "I Will Always Love You"? That felt like a mic-drop moment.
It was too pretty to drop!
TVLINE | I know you've at times had a rocky relationship with your father. Have you been able to celebrate this win with him at all?
Honestly, I haven't had a chance to talk to or celebrate with anybody yet. But I did see on Facebook he was very proud. He wrote this very nice post, so I was really happy about that.
TVLINE | You hadn't sung for two years prior to auditioning for The Voice. Were you afraid you might be rusty?
Kind of, but when you've been doing something all your life, you just sort of know what to do. Even though I had not sung, singing never left me, if that makes sense. I could think back two or three years to the times when I sang and just sort of pull things out of that toolbox. And of course, working with Reba, she was able to fine-tune that.
TVLINE | What was her best technique for building up your confidence?
Oh my God, her looking at me and smiling. Have you ever seen that woman smile? Whew! I'd be singing, and this is how I would know that she really liked what I was doing. She would just start smiling. If she didn't smile, she didn't too much care for that rendition. But if she was smiling, that would give me the boost I needed.
TVLINE | Does she ever not smile.
Yes! [Laughs] There were times she did not smile, for sure! But even then, she wasn't smiling, but she was listening and getting ready to coach.
TVLINE | I've gotta say, my jaw hit the floor when John Legend said that you, and neither of the contestants on his team, were the best singer in the contest!
My jaw was right there next to yours! I didn't know what to say or where to look, so I just started nodding my head. It was the greatest compliment I could ever receive, especially when there were so many voices on this show that I respected.
TVLINE | Were you afraid that being a member of the LGBTQ+ community would work against you on a show with as conservative an audience as The Voice has?
I was told, not by anyone on The Voice, but everyone outside, "You shouldn't dress like that. You shouldn't look like that." But I'm so confident in who I am and how I show up, and I know that what I do have is a beautiful, pure heart. I knew that America would see that, so I feared not one time. I wanted the most make-up. I wanted the most extravagant clothes. And they delivered!
TVLINE | What does it mean to you to have scored a win for your community, especially at this trying time in history?
I am so excited. Every victory is something special. And I hope that with this victory, everybody in our community can also experience it just by looking at me and thinking, "We are the same person." If I can do it, you can, too. It may not be singing. Maybe it's dancing. But just do it.
TVLINE | It might have been John who said that he could see you going down a club-music route after hearing your rendition of Donna Summer's "Last Dance" in the Finals. Would that be of interest to you?
You know what? I didn't know how glitzy and glammy disco music was. I would never have given myself that song. I consider myself a ballad guy. Like, I'm the Adele, the Luther Vandross, the Whitney Houston guy. I want to just stand there and sing. But that song felt good to me. The music sort of matched the power that my voice already has. It was a good time, so I think I would do it!
TVLINE | Now that you've crossed the barrier and gone wigless on stage, do you think you'll go back?
Well, one of my strengths, I believe, is that I don't just use my voice to tell a story but my entire body. So sometimes I come out with long hair, sometimes I come out with short. With The Voice, I wanted people to see that I can literally do everything. But especially in the Lives, I wanted people to see my heart more than anything. The next time you see me, I may be working 40 inches of weave, or I may be bald. There's just no telling!
TVLINE | Considering how amazing your wardrobe was on the show - and now knowing that that was by design - could you ever see yourself fronting a line or maybe even creating your own?
Absolutely. I would love to do that, actually. I love clothes. The creative director we had said, "The reason this is so over-the-top is because you're so over-the-top in your personality and your presence."
TVLINE | Yeah, you wore the clothes instead of the other way around. I'm not sure how many people could have shone through those outfits the way you did.
I really appreciate you saying that. And I would love to have my own clothing line. I can be wearing somebody else's designs, too - either/or!
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