Family is everything for Blake Shelton and his wife Gwen Stefani. Being that she is Italian, large family gatherings are a regular occasion that Shelton has grown accustomed to since they first got together in 2015.
After tying the knot in the summer of 2021, they have learned how to blend their families into one, which could prove to be a difficult task for any couple. Luckily, they have welcomed each other’s families with open arms.
“She really leans into the Italian part of her blood and that comes with lots and lots, and lots of family gatherings and lots of food,” Shelton said in an interview at Nashville’s CRS 2022. “She loves it and she’s been great for my family, my sister and her family and my mom and my stepdad. She’s got her arms around all of them and I never experienced that with anybody really because that’s a lot to take on and family’s first for Gwen.”
The country star has also taken on the responsibility of being a role model to the No Doubt singer’s three young boys, Kingston, 15, Zuma, 13, and Apollo, 8, who she shares with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale.
Shelton explained that he can relate to the boys’ situation because he also went through something similar in life. When his mom, Dorothy, got married, his stepdad became a father figure to him, his brother Richie and his sister Endy until they were old enough to leave the house. Even after his parents got divorced, they still looked up to him as the dad who raised them.
“My brother never thought of my dad as anything other than his dad,” he shared. “That was his dad. In fact, when my mom and dad divorced, Richie went to go live with dad, not mom.”
Eventually, his stepdad remarried another woman named Terry, who Shelton described as “incredible.”
In his new relationship, Shelton’s dad started all over again, taking in Terry’s kids as his own and raising them as well. Now, Shelton has chosen to follow the same path, leading by the high standards his stepfather set for him.
“The example that my dad set for me was that wasn’t even a thing, that was not even a consideration. You got three boys, awesome. My dad did it. My dad raised me. I can 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 fall in love with the boys as much as I do with Gwen.”
Shelton and Stefani currently reside in their lakeside mansion in Tishomingo, OK. He compares the wide-open spaces to “Disneyland” for the three boys, who are accustomed to living in crowded L.A. Recalling their first visit, the “Come Back As A Country Boy” singer said that he had to explain the rural lifestyle to them.
“You kind of have your yard or a public park, which these days are not necessarily somewhere you want to go. And when they come to Oklahoma, I remember the first time they came to Oklahoma, they all three, at the time one was too small, but two of them were like, ‘What do we do now?’ I go, ‘Go out that door and don’t come back until you’re too tired to go any further,’” he recalled. “Well, they can’t even imagine just going down to the creek with a net or turning over rocks or getting on a buggy and driving around. And now it’s second nature to them, they’ve grown up.”
Of course, he wouldn’t be Blake Shelton if he didn’t share his love for fishing and hunting with the boys. When asked how Stefani feels about her boys partaking in these outdoor activities, Shelton insinuated that basically, she’s happy if they’re happy.
“She loves that they’re doing all of that, all that stuff. She wants them to experience anything that is in their heart, that they want to experience,” he explained. “And so, they’re not going to be entering into the CMA archery contest anytime soon. But when it comes to burning things and start fires and throwing hatchets, you better get out of the way.”
He might not have his own biological kids with Stefani, but he has certainly taken these three boys under his wing as his own.