Ellen Degeneres welcomed musicians Jim & Sasha Allen, the father/son duo who made history on The Voice season 21 to her daytime talk show, as Sasha became the first openly trans person to compete on the show.
“Being on The Voice was so incredible,” Sasha shared with Ellen. “It was amazing. It was a whirlwind. I was shocked to get through the blind auditions. I didn’t think we’d make it. I was just happy to be there.” Sasha didn’t know if the duo would even get a chair turn. But after they duo ended up on Team Ariana Grande, “it was just victory after victory after victory, which was insane, and equally as shocking every time.”
Sasha explained to Ellen why he chose to tell his story on The Voice. “I went through a lot of years of feeling a lot of pain and a lot of rejection from some people in my life.” He continued, “When I got to this place and I realized I was going to have this platform, it was scary because you’re suddenly in front of eight million people. You don’t know how the world’s going to react to you. But I made the decision to share my story in this way.”
Sasha is happy he could share his story on The Voice
“If I could just help one kid who’s in the position that I was in or help somebody to understand, who knows nothing about trans people, or has never met a trans person, it would all be worth it. I’m so happy that I did it.”
Jim added that the duo were “blessed enough” to find the opportunity to do The Voice at the perfect point in their journey. “It was just the perfect timing for Sasha to tell his story, and we found that they conveyed that story so beautifully. I just how they told the story.”
