Do opposites really attract? If Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani are anything to go by, the answer is an emphatic “yes!”
These two musical legends come from very different worlds. He’s a country icon and she’s a pop princess. Despite these different backgrounds and mutual emotional baggage, the two ended up finding true love.
Honestly, their entire romance is crazier than any set of song lyrics. Don’t believe us? Keep reading to discover the truth about Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani’s relationship!
How Gwen met Blake
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton effectively met through work. Back in 2014, Stefani joined The Voice as one of the coaches. And one of her fellow coaches was none other than Blake Shelton.
Before taking the gig, Stefani didn’t really know much about Shelton. Years later, she admitted in an interview with Andy Cohen that “I didn’t even know he existed, like before the show,” she admitted. “I didn’t even know he was a human being on this planet, and I didn’t know much about country.”
In retrospect, it might seem like fate that these two lovebirds met on set. Everyone around them noticed that the two had amazing chemistry together. There was just one problem: both of them were already married!
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Bonding over nasty divorces
When Stefani and Shelton met, they were each already married. Stefani was in a very long-term marriage with Gavin Rossdale and Shelton had been married for four years to fellow country star Miranda Lambert.
However, these marriages ended in short order after Stefani and Shelton met. Shelton and Lambert divorced in July 2015, and Stefani and Rossdale divorced in August 2015. Rumors flew that Shelton got divorced because he was having an affair with Stefani. Meanwhile, Stefani had an ironclad reason for divorcing Rossdale: he was having an affair with their nanny, Mindy Mann.
While there is likely no truth to those rumors about Stefani and Shelton having an affair, nobody could deny the chemistry they shared, both onscreen and off-the-stage. And once the two were both divorced, it paved the way for them to start pursuing their mutual affection toward one another.
Sparks fly on national television
At first, the chemistry between Stefani and Shelton was the kind of thing mostly noticed by their costars. For example, Country Rebel reports that Adam Levine had closely observed their relationship from the very beginning. “It’s so funny. They found each other at really interesting times in their lives. It’s really beautiful,” he said. Turning cheeky, the singer added, “I’m so affectionate and gross with my wife—this is a whole other level of…vomit.”
Pretty soon, though, the whole world would see what The Voice costars were seeing. Stefani and Shelton appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon on October 24, 2015. There, they performed a duet of Drake’s “Hotline Bling,” and so many sparks flew that the set may as well have caught on fire!
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Making the romance official
After that sizzling duet, the cat was already out of the bag. Perhaps that’s why the two made their relationship official less than two weeks later on November 4, 2015. E! News reports that Shelton’s representative offered a simple statement: “Gwen and Blake are longtime friends who have very recently started dating.”
Not long before that, the two were reportedly all over each other at several Halloween parties. Once their relationship became official, though, they got to be adorable at some other big dress-up events, including their first red carpet appearance as a couple during the 2016 Academy Awards!
Hotter duets each year
For many fans, their duet on Jimmy Fallon was the first hint at just how much chemistry Stefani and Shelton really have. It’s only fitting, then, that they eventually turned hot duets into an annual tradition!
At the Billboard Music Awards in 2016, the two sang an aching rendition of their own co-written song, “Go Ahead and Break My Heart.” In 2017, Stefani was not a coach on The Voice, but she popped by in December to perform a duet of her song “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” with Shelton. This was later turned into an adorable music video.
Early in 2020, the couple performed a duet of Shelton’s song “Nobody But You” at the Grammy Awards. It wouldn’t be too long before the COVID pandemic hit, which is why the couple released their duet “Happy Anywhere” (inspired by the idea that they could be happy even while being quarantined) in July 2020.
The song was another smash hit, but by now, there was only one kind of music their fans wanted to hear: wedding bells!
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Engagement and marriage
Quarantining together was enough to drive many couples apart, but that wasn’t the case with Stefani and Shelton. Not only did Stefani make a return to coaching on The Voice that year, but the two finally got engaged!
This was revealed via Instagram, with Stefani showing off her shiny new ring with a simple caption: “yes please!”
The two didn’t rush to get married, and this was likely due to concerns over COVID. Shelton hinted as much when he appeared as a surprise co-host of Today With Hoda and Jenna. “I’d love to be able to take everybody up on their offer and have this amazing concert wedding,” Shelton said, referring to their various musician friends who had volunteered to perform. “But we’re just waiting every day, just like everybody else, to see what our summer is going to look like and then go from there.”
He then cracked a joke, saying, “You know, it’s starting to sound like a Coachella lineup here all of a sudden.”
When the couple did get married in July 2021, it was the opposite of a Coachella-style gathering. They got married in a small ceremony at Shelton’s Oklahoma ranch over the Fourth of July weekend. It was only fitting, then, that a courtship that began with so many sparks flying would culminate in a weekend of explosive celebrations all around the country!