Gwen Stefani Says She Didn't Know Husband Blake Shelton "Existed" Before Meeting Him on 'The Voice'

"I never listened to country music, so while Blake was super successful, I never even knew he existed before I met him."

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton perform at the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards from Ford Center at The Star on May 16, 2024 in Frisco, Texas.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Gwen Stefani and husband Blake Shelton have been married for three years, but according to the pop star there was a time when she had no clue who her country music star hubby even was.

In an interview with The Guardian published Thursday, Nov. 14, the No Doubt frontwoman admitted that before she met Shelton on the reality competition show The Voice in 2014 she didn't know he existed.

"I never listened to country music, so while Blake was super successful, I never even knew he existed before I met him," Stefani told the publication. "He's very humble and doesn't realize how good he is. There's something so attractive about that."

The pair started dating in 2015 after their fist meeting as the competition show's judges. They officially tied the knot on July 3, 2021.

In an interview with People ahead of the release of her new album, "Bouquet," Stefani opened up about her relationship, calling Shelton being in her life a "miracle."

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton perform at the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards from Ford Center at The Star on May 16, 2024 in Frisco, Texas.

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton perform at the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards from Ford Center at The Star on May 16, 2024 in Frisco, Texas.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

"Something that I wanted since I was a little girl is to be married and have this love that I saw my parents have and have babies," Stefani said at the time. "That dream was completely ruined; it was crushed."

Stefani was referring to her marriage to Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, whom she divorced in 2016. The previous couple share three sons together: Kingston, 18, Zuma, 16, and Apollo, 10.

"Especially growing up with this perfect example of love between my parents. They met when they were 15, and they fell in love, and then they had us [children], and they made us feel like we were everything to them," Stefani continued during the same interview with People. "And when you have a family and it's the opposite of that, it breaks up ... I didn't know what to do or how to protect my children. And I'm still working on that."

"I had to figure out how I was going to move forward and make a new dream," she added, "and God putting Blake in my life was just that miracle."

In an April 2024 interview with Nylon, the singer also opened up about some of the lingering insecurities she has in her relationship with her now-husband, Shelton.

“In my own relationship, even though I know the truth of what’s happening today, you still create drama in your own mind about your insecurities and what might happen," she told the publication at the time. "I was in that phase of the relationship with Blake and getting paranoid.”

"It’s an insecurity we both have," Shelton added in the same interview. "These are conversations that she and I have with each other: ‘Are you still going to love me when I’m old or if I forget who I am?’”

Danielle Campoamor
Weekend Editor

Danielle Campoamor is Marie Claire's weekend editor covering all things news, celebrity, politics, culture, live events, and more. In addition, she is an award-winning freelance writer and former NBC journalist with over a decade of digital media experience covering mental health, reproductive justice, abortion access, maternal mortality, gun violence, climate change, politics, celebrity news, culture, online trends, wellness, gender-based violence and other feminist issues. You can find her work in The New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, New York Magazine, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, TODAY, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, InStyle, Playboy, Teen Vogue, Glamour, The Daily Beast, Mother Jones, Prism, Newsweek, Slate, HuffPost and more. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their two feral sons. When she is not writing, editing or doom scrolling she enjoys reading, cooking, debating current events and politics, traveling to Seattle to see her dear friends and losing Pokémon battles against her ruthless offspring. You can find her on X, Instagram, Threads, Facebook and all the places.

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