Gwen Stefani isn’t holding back when it comes to revealing her deepest feelings. From her heartbreak over the end of her marriage to Gavin Rossdale to how Blake Shelton transformed that emotional pain into joy, Gwen opened up in a very intimate look at her life then and now with the New York Times .
“My life was literally blown up into my face,” revealed Gwen of the dramatic betrayal of Gavin Rossdale.
Married for 13 years, Stefani was horrified when she learned that Gavin had been secretly enjoying a hot hook-up with the family’s nanny to their three little boys. The protective mom held back from dishing the full details.
“If I could, I would just tell you everything, and you would just be in shock. It’s a really good, juicy story,” admitted Gwen.
Emotionally, Stefani was completely devastated, sharing how she felt.
“I’m gonna die. I am dead, actually. How do I save myself? What am I going to do? How do I not go down like this?”
But Gwen found the answer by pouring her heartbreak into music, and the result is captured in her first solo album in 10 years, This Is What the Truth Feels Like , which drops Friday, March 18.
Within that album, you’ll hear the musical version of how Stefani felt about Gavin’s cheating as well as the joy in finding love with Blake. Stefani also dished on the serendipity of her romance with the country crooner, who had gone through similar heartbreak in his split from Miranda Lambert.
“[Blake] had been going through literally the exact same thing in literally the exact same time frame,” gushed Gwen.
Part of Stefani’s team for creating This Is What the Truth Feels Like is songwriter Justin Tranter, who shared his own views on what he observed in Gwen’s path from pathos to passion.
“We had anger, we had sadness, we had flirtation, we had sexy, and now we’re madly in love,” recalled the songwriter.
And now that she’s so deeply in love, Gwen admitted she’s still getting used to the concept of using her music to share her joy in life. Stefani also revealed that although she’s still recovering from her shock in discovering Gavin’s infidelity, the “awesome” part of her life trumps the remaining sorrows.
“I’m not going to say I’m not still picking up the pieces and every day isn’t a challenge,” shared Gwen. “I’m still in shock. But it’s an awesome time.”
As for how the three little boys that Stefani and Rossdale feel about the situation, her sons adore Shelton, a source told Hollywood Life .
Because the youngest, Apollo, can’t pronounce the letter “L,” he calls him “Bwake,” and now all three boys use that as a nickname for their pal. Shelton is terrific when it comes to playing with them, ranging in age from Kingston, who is 9, to Zuma at 7 to Apollo, who just turned 2.
“Blake is amazing with them,” revealed the source. “One of his favorite things to do with the kids is go on hikes, they love Malibu Creek. Blake loves any excuse to get outside and get dirty so he’s a big hit with Gwen’s kids.”
The lovebirds are even preparing a duet together, according to Us Weekly .
Offering his own take on how both singers suffered heartbreak before finding love together, their friend Pharrell Williams revealed his delight in seeing their happiness.
“It’s so beautiful because being there, I watched both of them go through a lot, you know. You hate to see your friends go through something so heavy, and it’s kind of like a miracle, man — just watching that.”
And while Pharrell regards their relationship as a “miracle,” another example of the serendipity that seems to surround the couple exists in Shelton’s new gig as the 2016 Kids’ Choice Awards host, noted Hollywood Life .
Shelton has been practicing on Stefani’s sons, and it’s provided yet another way for him to bond with her boys.
“Blake has been trying out material and jokes to Gwen’s kids, he feels that if he can make them laugh then he will be able to make the audience laugh and have a great time during the Kids’ Choice Awards,” a source told Hollywood Life . “He keeps telling jokes to Kingston, because he gets the best reaction from him. It makes Blake happy that he can bond with Gwen’s kids this way, it’s a blessing in disguise.”
[Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for MasterCard]