Gwen Stefani opened up about boyfriend Blake Shelton in a new interview for Glamour’s Women of the Year special issue, calling him “an unexpected gift.”
“He was a friend to me when I needed a friend,” Stefani told Glamour. “And that became an inspiration in the songwriting… I’ve learned a lot about country music from him.”
In fact, the two collaborated on a song, “Go Ahead and Break My Heart,” for Shelton’s latest album, If I’m Honest.
“It’s definitely two different cultures,” she added of the relationship. “But there are many similarities, in things that we love and our morals. But it’s really fun when you can learn about so many new things and share those differences.”
Last November, Stefani’s rep confirmed exclusively to Us Weekly that the No Doubt frontwoman, 47, and Shelton, 40, were dating. They bonded during season 9 of The Voice following their respective divorces from Gavin Rossdale and Miranda Lambert. Stefani, who has three sons with Rossdale, 51, has said she was “embarrassed” by her failed marriage, a sentiment she echoed in her interview with Glamour.
“I don’t think you’ll talk to one person who didn’t make it in a marriage who’s not gonna feel that way,” Stefani told the mag. “The intention of being married is the vow, right? You want to put everything into it to make it a success. And all I had to look at was the huge success of my parents: They just had their 50th anniversary. I had to work really hard at marriage, all the time, like everybody, but ours was extra hard, when you add that we’re from different countries, both of us being in music, and celebrity. [Marriage] was the one thing I didn’t want to fail at. People can say whatever they want to about me…and I don’t get too affected. But I didn’t want them to think I was a failure. There’s nothing weird about how I felt.”
Stefani admits that she doesn’t “understand” her journey this past year, but is ready for what comes next. “Sometimes to be woken up again in life, you need to go through some really bad, hard times. I feel like I got woken up this year… [it’s been] mind-blowing,” she said. “It’s so crazy. But one thing I learned is, that’s what life is. We all have to go through hard times. Tragedies. Those are given to us to see what we’re going to do with them. How can we give back? How can we improve when we have these challenges?”
She added: “I’m in a different place now, [and] that is the past for me. I’m in such a new place. It’s all about the future for me.”
