Blake Shelton Takes His Job As A Stepdad To Gwen Stefani’s Kids ‘Very Seriously’
“The kids see me as a very important person in their life,” he explained.
Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani Children; Photos via Instagram
Blake Shelton has poured so much of his time and energy into his career through songwriting, performing, acting as a coach on NBC’s The Voice, and more. However, at this stage of his life, he’s making necessary changes so that he can better prioritize his life at home with his wife, Gwen Stefani, and her sons Kingston, Zuma and Apollo (Their dad is Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, Stefani’s ex-husband).
On October 11, the “No Body” singer took to social media to announce that once the current season of the Emmy-winning singing competition show comes to an end, he will be stepping away from his chair. For 23 seasons he acted as a coach and a mentor to many budding artists with a dream. Now, he’s going to focus on his own dreams of spending time at his home in Oklahoma, where he grew up.
“We get away from everything [in L.A.], and we’re just us. It truly does feel different,” he says. “That’s where I feel the most comfortable, happy and safe.”
Shelton revealed that no amount of fame or fortune can compare to the feeling he gets when he’s able to just sit back and focus on his most important role of being a stepparent.
“If I walked away from my career at this time, the only thing that I run the risk of is having regrets that I’m missing out on some more important things in life. For now, that’s our kids. This isn’t about me anymore and never will be again,” Shelton told PEOPLE.
“Even though I’m a stepparent, I take that job very seriously. The kids see me as a very important person in their life,” he continued. “[When they ask,] ‘Why isn’t Blake here?’ I take that stuff to heart. I’ve made plenty of money, but you can’t buy time back. I don’t want any regrets.”
Shelton and Stefani first met while working together as coaches on the singing competition show. While reflecting on the early stages of their friendship, Stefani said she found herself drawn to Shelton “like a magnet.”
They dated for five years before the “God’s Country” singer finally proposed in Oct. 2020. On July 3, 2021, they tied the knot in a small ceremony officiated by The Voice host, Carson Daly.
Luckily, he has his wife’s full support when it comes to leaving the show.
“I think that Blake–I don’t know, I think he just wants more time, you know what I mean? I don’t know that people realize, if he’s doing two seasons a year, right?” Stefani said. “In between that, he’s touring. So he actually has two teams at the same time at a certain point, so they overlap,” she previously told Extra.
“We have Oklahoma, which is something I never knew I needed and wanted, you know? We planted a garden, we do all kinds of fun stuff,” she continued. “So we’re looking forward to doing some of that family stuff together. It’s ‘gonna be great.”
Shelton recently began his last season on The Voice alongside fellow coaches, Kelly Clarkson, Chance The Rapper, and Niall Horan.
Fans can still watch the country star on the show, airing on NBC every Monday and Tuesday at 8/7c and on Peacock the next day.
While he may be giving up this piece of his life, Shelton is not going into full retirement mode. In fact, he recently joined a new reality competition show, which be co-produced with Carson Daly.
Hosted by Nikki Bella, each episode of the USA Network’s Barmageddon finds two celebrities playing a unique set of five games in Ole Red to win a prize for a viral internet sensation each has chosen to support.
The show features Daly behind the bar as a bartender and Shelton as live entertainment alongside the bar’s house band.
Barmageddon made history upon its December 5 premiere as it became the network’s most-viewed series premiere in almost three years with 1.2 million total viewers, according to a report from Deadline.
Since the show saw so much success in the first season, Shelton revealed that Season 2 will drop in March 2023. He confirmed this news during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“By the way, we’re doing a Season 2, we’re super excited,” he shared. “It’s an art show, OK? You know what I’m saying? We have fun with it. It was actually just an idea that was born out of drinking backstage at The Voice. We were actually watching, there’s a show called Holy Moley, and we were watching that one day and I said, ‘Man, how much more fun would that show be if they were drinking while they were doing it?’ Literally, that’s how we thought of Barmageddon.”
Additionally, he is currently in the midst of his Back To The Honky Tonk Tour, which launched on February 16. The much-anticipated trek features support from Carly Pearce and Jackson Dean.
Madeleine O’Connell graduated from North Central College with a bachelors degree in Journalism and Broadcast Communications before deciding to pursue her studies further at DePaul University. There, she earned her masters degree in Digital Communication & Media Arts. O’Connell served as a freelance writer for over two years while also interning with the Academy of Country Music, SiriusXM and Circle Media and assisting with Amazon Music’s Country Heat Weekly podcast. In addition to Country Now, she has been published in American Songwriter, Music Mayhem, and Holler.Country. Madeleine O’Connell is a member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.
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