The Voice 8 featured it’s first ever triple knockout round between Sawyer Fredericks, Mia Z and Paul Pfau from Team Pharrell Williams on Monday–due to the absence of Anthony Riley.

Pharrell announced that the Philadelphia based singer left the competition after his Battle Round victory, due to “personal reasons. The explanation was left at that. Rumors swirled on the internet. One bit of gossip had Anthony leaving the competition because he refused to face off against 17 year old blues chanteuse, Mia Z. Some reports even suggested that his political views may have made NBC nervous (Philly.com suggested that, and personally, I think it’s ridiculous). On twitter, Anthony had dedicated his Battle Round win to “Mumia Abu Jamal and political prisoners everywhere.”

Now, WTOV TV, an NBC Affiliate out of Steubenville OH/Wheeling WV, (that’s the Western PA tri-state area, in case you were wondering) reached out to Anthony and actually got an answer! The singer released the following statement to the station: “Unfortunately, I will be unable to continue my journey on ‘The Voice’ for season 8 due to medical reasons. Any other rumors are just that.”

Apparently, Anthony got sick after the battle round and was not able to return to the show because of doctor’s orders. He was in the hospital for 2 weeks during filming of the knockout rounds.

Anthony’s spokesperson wouldn’t go into specifics about those medical reasons, but says he is nursing himself back to health. In fact, he’s healthy enough to play a show. He’s set to play Undo’s in St. Clairsville, OH at 8 pm on Saturday.

Anthony went silent on twitter beginning March 17, but came back yesterday with a series of tweets regarding a few performances he liked.

Read more at WTOV9