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For the first time since 1999, Reba McEntire will not host the Academy of Country Music Awards next year.

McEntire hosted the show by herself every year from 1999 to 2010, and co-hosted the show along with Blake Shelton in 2011 and 2012. Shelton will return to host the 2013 awards show.

“[I’ve] passed the torch to Blake,” McEntire told Country Weekly magazine. “I’m a huge Blake Shelton fan.”

In all, McEntire has hosted the ACM awards show 14 times, with her first appearance coming in 1986. Bob Romeo, the CEO of the Academy of Country Music, issued a statement explaining that McEntire will leave to focus on an upcoming TV show.

“Reba has hosted the ACM Awards a record 14 times since 1986, and we fully understand and support her decision to focus her energies on her new television project,” Romeo said. “We’ve known about this for a while and have something very special planned with Blake returning – he’s got something big up his sleeve! – that we’ll be announcing soon. Stay tuned!”

The television show referenced in the statement is the new comedy series “Malibu Country.” McEntire will star alongside Lily Tomlin and Sara Rue in the series that is set to debut on November 2 on ABC at 8:30.

Shelton can currently be seen sharing the television spotlight with his fellow judges on NBC’s “The Voice.” Romeo gave no indication whether Shelton will be joined by a co-host for the ceremony, but that “something big up his sleeve” comment may indicate we can expect a big name country star to fill Reba’s shoes.

Brad Paisley, who has hosted the Country Music Awards four times, recently correctly predicted that Shelton would be around as host for a while to TheBoot.com.

“I thought he was awesome,” Paisley said,  “and I think he’s probably got a permanent gig.”