Maroon 5 frontman and “The Voice” judge Adam Levine has defended pop star Christina Aguilera against her haters and bullies during a press question-and-answer session on Friday, denying persistent rumors that they are fighting behind the scenes of the singing competition.

According to reports, 33-year-old Adam Levine was asked about tabloid articles of bad blood between him and “The Voice” co-judge Christina Aguilera.

“The fights that everyone thought we were having were fictional,” said the Maroon 5 singer. “We never hated each other. We never were having some sort of secret battles that everyone thought we were having.”

He went on, explaining, “There were silly bickering things like a brother and sister would do… it’s not nearly what everybody thought.”

“You get to a certain point where you realize that it’s so much easier… just to stay close, and to get each other’s backs,” said Adam Levine.

He was then asked about the criticism that’s been constantly thrown at Christina Aguilera regarding her body.

Adam Levine said flatly, “People shouldn’t say those kinds of things. Because, ‘F**k you.’ Come on, guys. Grow up.”

He added, “It’s not cool, and I’ve never liked it… I think it’s horrible and I’ll totally defend Christina when people say things like that because it’s no-one’s business.”

“The one thing about the culture right now, celebrity culture particularly, is people feel like they can just say nasty things about other people whether it’s Christina or whether it’s me. She gets a lot and it pisses me off. Of course I have her back and of course I defend her,” Adam Levine concluded.

Christina Aguilera is said to be taking a hiatus from ‘The Voice’ this season along with fellow judge Cee-Lo Green, to be replaced by Usher and Shakira.

Coaches Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green from the hit singing competition “The Voice,” who have been with the show since its launching, will be leaving at the end of this season, NBC announced on Monday.

According to reports, pop star Christina Aguilera will be taking some time off from the show to promote and tour her new album titled “Lotus,” while singer-songwriter Cee Lo Green will focus on starring and executive producing a comedy for NBC which is based loosely on his real-life relationship with his former wife and kids.

Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green will be replaced by Usher and Shakira.

“We are thrilled to welcome Usher and Shakira to ‘The Voice,’ ” Robert Greenblatt, the chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in statement. “The addition of these popular iconic artists continues the tradition established by Christina, Cee Lo, Adam and Blake. Doing two back-to-back cycles of this show requires a tremendous amount of time, and we are happy to accommodate the commitments made by Christina and Cee Lo.”

Executive producer Mark Burnett added, “‘The Voice’ has always been known for pairing incredible up-and-coming talent with superstar coaches who are top-level current artists. Having award-winning artists as coaches means they need to be able to tour. … This is exactly why, after three seasons, we needed to allow them to rotate out so they can get on the road amongst their fans.”

NBC said that both Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green are slated to return to the singing competition after their one-season hiatus.

Christina Aguilera released a statement about her hiatus from “The Voice,” saying: “By pursuing my first passion of music during the break, I am also able to come back and offer even more to my team on ‘The Voice’ in the future.”

“Thank you, NBC, for supporting my decision to take this season four hiatus!” said Cee Lo Green. “I will return for season five and will be watching season four.”

Meanwhile, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton are staying through season four of “The Voice.”

Although Shelton is expected to stay through next season, he may be the next coach to take a break from the hit show. During an interview with Access Hollywood, the country music artist said he did not know how much longer he could do “The Voice.”

“It’s their decision (for us to leave), in that they’re the ones choosing to do back-to-back seasons,” he told Access. “They really leave us no other option … if we want to tour, there’s not a chance of that doing back-to-back seasons. That’s not acceptable to me.”

“The Voice” producer Mark Burnett has fired back at Simon Cowell — saying that the TV personality is delusional for thinking that “The Voice” is going in a head-to-head battle with the premiere of “X Factor” to steal the limelight from pop singer, Britney Spears.

According to reports, 52-year-old Mark Burnett said that he did not even know NBC added “The Voice” to the schedule next Wednesday. The British TV producer told media outlet TMZ, “There was never ever a meeting or a discussion of what my show was up against.  The fact is … it shows you where our minds are at and where others are because it literally never crossed my mind.”

Mark Burnett, who is also known as the creator of “Survivor” and “The Apprentice,” also cast doubts on the state of Simon Cowell’s thinking on the issue:

Mark Burnett added, “This is someone trying to read into something that doesn’t exist.”

“I’m just glad we’re on Simon’s mind,” Mark Burnett concluded.

Previous reports have stated that Simon Cowell slammed NBC executives for making a last-minute move to put “The Voice” in the same time slot as Fox’s “X Factor” before premier in the United States.

Cowell said that he had a “gentleman’s agreement” with the network to allow both singing competitions to air on different days. He added that X Factor judge Britney Spears will be “devastated” when she finds out that he is slated to go head-to-head with former pop rival, Christina Aguilera.

NBC was initially set to run “The Voice” on Mondays and Tuesday, while Fox’s “X Factor’ would run on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Simon Cowell called out the NBC honchos for playing “political games,” saying, “This is a cynical, cold-hearted, unprofessional way of doing business.”

“The reason they’ve done this is they don’t want people to see X Factor because they’ve heard how good the series is. They don’t want their audience to see Britney Spears.  They don’t want their audience to see Demi Lovato,” the TV personality went on.

Cowell said he also expects Britney Spears — who signed on to judge the TV talent show with Demi and music executive L.A. Reid in May — will not take the news well.

“Britney’s not going to appreciate the fact that Christina – who has been a bit of a rival – isn’t allowing Britney to have a night of her own. She’s going to be devastated because she’s put her heart and soul into this,” Simon Cowell concluded.

This is said to be the latest in an ongoing ratings war between the big bosses of “The Voice” and Simon Cowell — who accused the producers of trying the same “dirty tricks” by taking the show to England to face off against “Britain’s Got Talent.

TV personality Simon Cowell is fuming mad at cable network NBC for trying to sandbag the premiere of reality competition show “X Factor” next week by adding a Wednesday installment of “The Voice,” saying “This is a cynical, cold-hearted, unprofessional way of doing business.”

In an interview with media outlet TMZ, Simon Cowell said that he thought he had a “gentleman’s agreement” with NBC that “The Voice” would be running on Mondays and Tuesdays, while “X Factor” would be running on Wednesdays and Thursdays on FOX to give way for fans to watch both singing competition shows.

The former “American Idol” judge said that NBC is turning on its own audience by forcing them to choose between Christina Aguilera’s show and Britney Spears’ new show. And speaking of the two pop stars, Simon Cowell said, “Britney’s not going to appreciate the fact that Christina — who has been a bit of a rival — isn’t allowing Britney to have a night of her own.”

Simon Cowell added that he believes the move is as personal as it gets because “The Voice” came to United Kingdom and went on a head-to-head battle with Simon’s show, “Britain’s Got Talent.”

He went on, saying, “These guys have really got it in for us. It’s nothing short of dirty tricks.”

“The reason they’ve done this is they don’t want people to see ‘X Factor’ because they’ve heard how good the series is. They don’t want their audience to see Britney Spears. They don’t want their audience to see Demi Lovato,” added Simon Cowell.

The TV producer and entrepreneur said he doesn’t think Britney Spears knows the move yet, but when she finds out, “She’s going to be devastated because she’s put her heart and soul into this.”

As for Simon Cowell, he said he is not afraid, adding, “I can’t bear it that the network is playing political games and playing with the audience.”

Simon Cowell took a potshot at ‘The Voice’ by directing rejected ‘The X Factor’ applicants to audition at the rival show.

Sources in the Austin, Texas auditions told Perez Hilton that Cowell and fellow judge L.A. Reid allegedly advised contestants who failed to make the cut to take their acts to rival shows.  ”If you decide to try out again,” Simon Cowell allegedly said to ‘The X Factor‘ hopefuls,  ”Please do it on another show.”

According to the Perez Hilton source, Cowell then reportedly made their destination very specific. ”Yes, the good news is I hear ‘The Voice‘ auditions are happening next week,” he supposedly suggested.

In an earlier interview, Simon Cowell told the BBC that he believed the UK version of ‘The Voice’ copied his current show. “It’s the same as X Factor,” he noted. In addition, he also wondered “what’s the point of looking at” the contestants if the show is “all about the voice,” and suggested that the rival show should be a radio show.

And even earlier than his BBC interview, Simon Cowell proposed an ultimate sing-off competition between the winners of ‘The Voice,’ his own ‘The X Factor,’ and ‘American Idol.’ His idea was dismissed by ‘Voice’ judge Adam Levine, ‘Idol’ producer Nigel Lythgoe, and others involved.

According to Simon Cowell, ‘The Voice’ is best enjoyed out of sight- and therefore out of mind, and that it copied his show ‘The X Factor.’

In a recent interview with BBC Radio 4, Simon Cowell took a shot at the main rival of his show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ by asking if ‘The Voice‘ is “all about the voice, then what’s the point of looking at them?” He then forwarded his opinion that the show should be on the radio.

According to Perez Hilton, ”The Voice UK’ has been taking the lead over competition show ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ in this season’s ratings war. It drew the attention of Simon Cowell, who noted the similarities to his other show ‘The X Factor.’

“Suddenly I’m watching it a week, two weeks ago,” Cowell said. Agreeing that “It’s the same as X Factor,” he lists the number of ways ‘The Voice’ supposedly copied ‘The X Factor.’

“You know, they’ve got dancers behind them,” Simon Cowell mused, adding that “They’ve got graphics, lights” before concluding that it’s the “Same show.”

According to Perez Hilton, Cowell admitted that ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ lost to ‘The Voice.’ He also added that he took it as a chance -a challenge, even- to improve his shows. And he’s just as open regarding his own future in competition reality shows.

“I’ll know when it’s time A, for me to leave the shows,” he began, “Or B, not to make these shows anymore, simply because people won’t be interested,” he explained. “I’m not going to self-destruct,” Simon Cowell added.

A spat ensued between coaches Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera during the finale of ’The Voice.’

Gossip Cop reported that contestant Tony Lucca -the anointed one of Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine- belted out the song ’99 problems’ by R&B singer Jay-Z. Lucca omitted an admittedly offensive word; he didn’t say “b***h” in the song lyric “I’ve got 99 problems but a b***h ain’t one.”

‘The Voice’ coaches Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green liked the censoring spin that Tony Lucca added on the song. Shelton called it “really cool” and Green said that he “liked it.”

Christina Aguilera agreed that Lucca “sounded great.” Then she added that the song struck her as “a little derogatory towards women.”

“We’re not referring to women,” Adam Levine defended the Jay-Z song. He described ’99 problems’ to be a “metaphor” for all kinds of problems that are “bringing you down.”

“Girl problems,” Christina Aguilera interjected. “If that’s how you have to get points,” she added.

Levine -who had earlier called Jennifer Love Hewitt “aggressive” and described himself to be an “pain in the ass” on talk show ‘Ellen’- told Aguilera that, “I love you, Christina.”

Adam Levine then took off his plaid shirt to show Christina Aguilera and the rest of ‘The Voice’ what he wore underneath: a T-shirt with pink sparkles and ‘Team XTina’ emblazoned upon it.

When British boy band The Wanted talked about their guest appearance in ‘The Voice,’ they remembered Christina Aguilera for all the worst reasons.

The Hollywood Gossip reported that, according to the band’s Tony Parker, Christina Aguilera “is a total bitch.” Parker told Now FM (whose Youtube video of the interview with The Wanted has been taken down) that, “She might not be a total bitch in real life, but to us, she was a total bitch … she just sat there and didn’t speak to us. Wouldn’t even look at us.”

Siva Kaneswaran backed up Parker’s claim. “She was quite rude,” he observed. “I mean, Who does that?”

“She was a bit scary, to be honest,” chimed in Max George.

Come the inevitable comparison of their spot on ‘The Voice’ with their recent appearance on rival show ‘American Idol,’ George piped up with a favorable opinion of Jennifer Lopez.

“J. Lo’s hot,” George said. “Christina’s nothing special.”

The Wanted weren’t the only guest performers on ‘The Voice’ to get the cold shoulder treatment. Justin Bieber dropped by to debut a preview of his ‘Boyfriend’ music video.

The Brit boys noted that Justin Bieber received an equally cold reception from Christina Aguilera. The Wanted also said that the judge made a weird face as Bieber went in for a friendly hug.

Christina Aguilera denies accusations of snobbery and coldness on her part. “Haha,” she tweeted. “Can’t a girl have a little Bieber Fever after getting kissed by the Biebs?”

‘The Voice’ judge Will.i.am admitted that “I never really liked talent shows” on Sunday’s elimination show- before tweeting during the crucial eviction hour. The Daily Mail reported that the The Black Eyed Peas singer made the bizarre confession while deliberating upon which one of his acts -Joelle Moses or Sophie Griffin- should he send home.

Will.i.am immediately qualified his remark on talk shows by saying ‘The Voice‘ was ‘different.’ He didn’t detail just how his show was different, but he quickly got back on topic by focusing on the two acts whose fates he would decide.

“This is like the hardest thing, right, because both of you guys are amazing talents,” Will.i.am continued. “Sophie, you’re special. You’ve learned so much in two months, in two months. It took me freakin’ 10 years to learn what you learned in two months. But somebody has to go home.”

Will.i.am is  trying to convey a more ‘organic’ approach than his fellow judges. He said at the beginning of ‘The Voice’ that he had no idea who he might potentially send home. Instead, he intended to keep an open mind throughout the episode.

‘I like to experience the performances as the audience does,’ Will.i.am claims.

However, despite the weighty decision that would change the life of his contestants -and the eyes of nearly ten million viewers -
Will.i.am still succumbed to the lure of his BlackBerry.

While his fellow judges on ‘The Voice’ talked about contestant Jaz Ellington, Will.i.am. busied himself on Twitter. He was filmed using his mobile a number of times.

Viewers of ‘The Voice’ immediately criticized Will.i.am. One Twitter saying: ‘It looks like your bored.’  Another added: ‘Using your phone during Jaz came across as incredibly rude!’

Will.i.am replied:  ‘If you saw me on my phone I wasn’t being rude… I was connecting to people watching. ’tv, phone, laptop, & tablet.. its a new day…if I dont tweet during live tv Im not connecting to people watching in the new way #thevoiceuk.’

Still, sources in ‘The Voice’ claimed that the show’s bosses might tell him to stop using his phone when they’re shooting.

Will.i.am found an unexpected supporter. ‘He should be able to use his phone,’ Tom Jones’ first reject, 20-year-old Sam Buttery, said. “It’s an interactive show and it should be about involving the public.’

Adam Levine recently described Jennifer Love Hewitt as “aggressive”- and promptly called himself a ”huge pain in the ass.”

The Maroon 5 frontman appeared on ‘Ellen’ this Thursday. Earlier this month, ‘The Client List’ star publicly confessed eyeing Levine earlier this month. ”Yeah, I should massage him,” Jennifer Love Hewitt told E! News shortly after her interview on ‘Ellen.’ “I mean, I really should.”

“I heard about that. That was aggressive,”  ’Voice’ coach Adam Levine joked during his turn on ‘Ellen.’ Levine promptly began to flatter the absent Jennifer Love Hewitt. “It was really sweet and flattering. Beautiful life, you know, when a beautiful woman says nice things about you.”

But this 33-year-old is not the easiest to massage, even for the lovely likes of lingerie-clad J. Love.

“I can be a huge pain in the ass, huge pain in the ass,” Adam Levine shared in the May issue of Paper magazine. ”That’s part of who I am and there’s not a person I know who doesn’t think I’m a pain in the ass.”

Levine added: ”But I’m also really nice and a completely affable and socially adept person. There’s a difference between being an asshole and a pain in the ass.”

The self-professed ‘pain in the bum’ continued that he’s ‘fascinated’ by the thought of settling down. But Adam Levine is also not one to jump into anything without researching it first.

“I’m extremely fascinated by [marriage]. I want to study marriage. I want to learn about it. I want to know it. I want to figure out whether or not I want to do it. I’m not just going to leap into it, because that’s not good for anybody,” Adam Levine opined.