To many fans, Reba McEntire’s decision to send him home is a mistake — they believed Manny deserved to go further. Yet from another perspective, his departure revealed something beautiful…. Scroll down for details
The 28-year-old girl dad came in a fan of McEntire, having watched The Reba Show with his daughters. Costello is new to music, with his daughters his only audience as of late.
“I want to show them that you can do anything you put your mind to if you believe in yourself,” Costello told the cameras, before he took the stage to sing Craig Morgan’s “Almost Home.”
McEntire and Snoop Dogg turned around amid Costello’s performance, and the former coach broke down in tears after the fact.
“You made me homesick,” McEntire told Costello. “It took me back to all the greats I’ve been so fortunate to get to listen to in my life. You’ve got qualities from George Jones and [Merle] Haggard and there’s a little Randy [Travis] in there. It’s just a great combination.”
“Tears of joy” followed for McEntire, who wiped away her face with a tissue from Snoop.
“You just triggered something that needed to come out and say, ‘Happy to be here!’” McEntire explained. “I’m very glad that you’re here and I’d love you on my team.”
While Snoop tried to get Costello on his team with talk of hanging out with Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, the contestant wound up choosing McEntire as his coach.
McEntire’s victory worried her fellow coaches. Niall Horan noted that “Reba’s a problem,” while Snoop complained, “She took all my damn tissues.”
During the October 20 episode of The Voice, Leyton Robinson and Manny Costello joined forces for one of the most memorable Battles in recent history. The two Team Reba Artists performed the Chris Stapleton hit “Think I’m in Love With You” and crushed it, turning the tune into a back-and-forth sultry duet that cranked up the temperature in the Voice studio.
The duo kicked off the song by harmonizing so beautifully that they made Michael Bublé give an audible “Yeah!” in the middle of it.
From that point forward, their performance of “Think I’m in Love With You” can only be described as pure magic. Robinson showed off her dazzling range and tone that made her an early favorite during the Blind Auditions. Meanwhile, Costello proved once again he has one of the most textured voices in the competition. Both McEntire and Bublé praised his gritty, “gravely” style.
When the performance ended, all the Coaches had nothing but positive things to say.
“That was incredible,” Bublé said. “Leyton, I think that you can sing the phone book. Anything pop, anything country, and I think that’s amazing. And Manny, you have this great texture to your voice, and it’s got that gravely, amazing thing, and I thought you killed it.”
Snoop Dogg echoed Bublé’s thoughts. “Y’a’ll sound amazing together,” he said.
Niall Horan said both Artists “stepped up” big time, which McEntire agreed with.
Although McEntire had an impossible decision to make, it was Robinson who advanced in the competition as part of Team Reba. Costello nearly got saved by Bublé, but ultimately, he decided against it.
Reba and Manny together created a moment of authenticity on television, where it wasn’t just about music but about courage, growth, and belief in oneself.
After The Voice, Manny didn’t stay silent. He began sharing his new journey, writing songs born from real emotions — love, resilience, and bittersweet nostalgia. That setback became his creative spark, giving him material no competition could ever provide.
In a way, Reba gave Manny another kind of opportunity — the chance to grow stronger, to stand tall, and to tell his own story through music. The love from fans hasn’t faded; it has only grown deeper since he left the show. They don’t just remember his voice — they admire how he faced challenges with heart, not bitterness.
Now, as Manny begins teasing the first melodies of his new song, it’s clear that his so-called failure was far from meaningless. Sometimes, being eliminated from a competition is just the beginning of a real journey.
For Manny Costello, two performances were enough to start writing an entirely new chapter of his musical story.