As a new mom, Gwen Stefani really wanted one thing for herself and her kids when they reached adolescence — and luck would have it that her wish came true.
During an interview with People, the No Doubt alum opened up about the challenges she navigated when her eldest son was an infant and she was traveling internationally to perform with her band. Stefani recalled, “I took Kingston on a world tour [when he was 9 months old]. I would have to nurse him, then get onstage, come off, and he would twirl my ponytail.”
It wasn’t easy for the “Spiderwebs” singer to find work-life balance, living as both a world-famous musician and mother. “That’s when things got really hard for me emotionally,” Stefani confessed. “That time is so precious, and you don’t want to miss anything.”
What got her through the mom guilt was her goal for the future. “When my kids were teenagers, I really wanted to make sure that I was home for them — and here we are.” Now spending the majority of her days with 17-year-old Kingston, as well as her younger sons Zuma, 15, and Apollo, 9 (all of whom she welcomed with Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale), “here” is one of the last places Stefani ever expected to be: Oklahoma.
After falling in love with Blake Shelton on the set of The Voice in 2014, the punk-rock musician and country crooner tied the knot in 2021. They share a home near Tishomingo, Oklahoma, where Stefani and her sons experience a different life than the one they were used to in Hollywood pre-Shelton.
Describing the change of pace, the “Rich Girl” singer joked, “I am not really a dirt person, a bug person, I don’t like that much humidity. But it’s so beautiful [in Oklahoma], and you kind of feel like you’re going into this vortex,” she explained. “Nature — and God — is all right there.”
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Shelton, for his part, is honored to fill the role of stepdad for Stefani’s sons. In fact, the “Sure Be Cool If You Did” singer decided to retire from The Voice after a 23-season run “to invest in” their family. He told People in December 2022, “You don’t know what your regrets are going to be until you look back one day. I feel like my regrets would be, if I stayed on this path, that I am missing out on some more important things in life — and for now, that’s our kids.”
Shelton added, “I’ve accomplished more than anything I would ever imagine and made plenty of money, but you can’t buy time back. [Family] is what I want to invest in now.”
Before you go, check out these celebrity stepparents who are close with their stepkids.
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