Gwen Stefani has been married to Blake Shelton for more than two years, but has been with him since 2015. Their unlikely romance began when both Stefani and Shelton, who met while on The Voice together, were in the middle of painful divorces, unaware that their shared heartache would lead them both to lasting love.
“I didn’t see any of this coming with Blake,” Stefani admits to People. “This was just a big old ‘What?’ It was an amazing gift to experience love like that for the first time.”
Indeed, marrying a country music superstar is not at all what Stefani once envisioned for her life. Formerly married to rock singer, Gavin Rossdale, the mother of three now knows she never knew what true love was, until she fell for Shelton.
“He’s changed my life … when I [started dating] Blake, that’s when I felt home, like, ‘Oh, this is where I’m supposed to be, with this guy,” Stefani says.
Even after she realized her feelings for Shelton were real, the native Southern California singer had a hard time believing she would also fall for the Oklahoma ranch life that Shelton loves so much — until she experienced it for herself.
“I am not really a dirt person, a bug person, I don’t like that much humidity,” Stefani admits. “But it’s so beautiful [in Oklahoma], and you kind of feel like you’re going into this vortex. Nature — and God — is all right there.”
For the first time this season, Stefani is on The Voice without Shelton, who retired from the show after Season 23 earlier this year. Although she misses their banter and camaraderie on the reality TV talent show, Stefani is grateful that Shelton is getting to pursue things he didn’t have time to do, due to The Voice‘s grueling schedule, until now.
“I am happy for him because he has space to do all these other hobbies and things he wants to do,” Stefani says, adding that she was unsure what it would be like to be on The Voice without him.
“I was really weirded out like, ‘What’s it going to be like without Blake?’ But we are having so much fun,” Stefani remarks, referring to fellow coaches Reba McEntire, Niall Horan and John Legend. “At the end of the day, coaching these humans who are so gifted … I love it.”
Stefani also has her own music career, plus her own GVXE line of make-up, in addition to spending time with Shelton and her boys. It’s a lot for her to maintain, but she says it’s all possible thanks to her strong spirituality.
“It’s literally schedule, schedule, schedule. [But] there is a balance,” reveals the 53-year-old. “For me the only way that I’ve gotten this far is with my spiritual faith and being able to take time out to pray. You see the miracles, and that’s inspiration and fuel to keep it going.”
The Voice airs on Monday and Tuesday nights at 8:00 PM ET on NBC. Find music and tour dates at GwenStefani.com.