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Country star Blake Shelton is giving fans a glimpse into his marriage with Gwen Stefani and his deepening bond with her sons.
The country musician recently opened up about how Gwen deepened his faith in God, strengthened his relationships with family members, and why he's embraced his role as a stepfather to her three boys.
Speaking during this year’s Country Radio Seminar, an annual event where industry stars gather to host workshops and presentations, Blake (45) revealed that Gwen initially thought her kids would make him run for the hills.
Gwen (52) shares sons Kingston (15), Zuma (13) and Apollo (8) with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale.
“I think Gwen thought when we first started seeing each other, that it was just going to be a moment in time because of that,” Blake explained.
What she didn’t realise was that Blake was on a completely different page. He had every intention of making a commitment to the boys because of the example his own father had set.
Richard Shelton, who died of pneumonia in 2012, married Blake’s mother, Dorothy, when she already had a son, Richie, from a previous relationship.
“He took Richie on and raised him from the time he was one year old, and my brother never thought of my dad as anything other than his dad,” Blake added.
Richie died in a car accident in 1990 at the age of 24. Witnessing the relationship between Richard and Richie inspired Blake to work at forming close bonds with Gwen's boys.
“The example that my dad set for me was that [a child] wasn't even a consideration [in a romantic partnership],” he says.
“You got three boys? Awesome! My dad did it. My dad raised me. I could do this. I didn’t know what I was signing up for, but I was all about signing up for it.
“And every day I’ve fallen in love with the boys as much as I do with Gwen.”
Blake, who married Gwen in an intimate ceremony last year after six years together, bonded with the boys when they started visiting his impressive ranch in Oklahoma, which stretches over more than 526 hectares.
Blake says when the boys first visited Ten Point Ranch, they knew nothing about rural life.
“The two of them were like, ‘Well, what do we do now?’” Blake recalls. “I go, ‘Go out that door and don’t come back till you’re too tired to go any further’.”
Blake taught the boys outdoor activities such as fishing, and now it’s become like Disneyland to them, he says.
“When it comes to burning things and starting fires and throwing hatchets, you'd better get out of the way!” he said of their favourite things to do.
His relationship with Gwen has enriched his life in more ways than one, including establishing his faith in God. Blake explained that Gwen’s devotion to her religion meant her relationship with God took precedence over everything and everyone else in her life.
“She has such a strong faith in God,” he says.
“Just watching her and learning from her and learning how she thinks and how she treats people and how she just operates in her life . . . naturally I start seeing the God in everything, because she does.”
Gwen has also brought him closer to his mother, stepdad Mike Shackleford and sister Endy Shelton.
“She’s got her arms around all of them,” Blake gushed. “And I never experienced that with anybody really, because that’s a lot to take on, and family’s first for Gwen.”
Sources: people.com, etonline.com, hellomagazine.com, everythingnash.com, etcanada.com
