Gwen Stefani opens up on protecting her children after Gavin Rossdale divorce: 'My dream was ruined'

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Gwen Stefani opened up on the challenges she faced while protecting her children after her painful divorce from ex-husband Gavin Rossdale.

The couple, who had been together for 20 years, separated in 2015 and finalized their divorce in 2016, marking the end of a significant chapter in Stefani's life.

In a candid interview, the singer, who released her latest album 'Bouquet' on November 15, reflected on the difficult aftermath of their split.

However, Stefani had found new happiness, marrying country star Blake Shelton in 2021 after nearly six years of dating. She also shared the joy of building a new life with Shelton and their three sons—Kingston, 18, Zuma, 16, and Apollo, 10—finding strength in their growing family.

Gwen Stefani shares her struggles after divorce from Gavin Rossdale

According to People, Gwen Stefani began by reflecting on her new chapter with Blake Shelton, sharing, "The last four years of my life, I got engaged, then I got married and started my life over."

She then looked back on the dreams she had since childhood, explaining, "Something that I wanted since I was a little girl is to be married and have this love that I saw my parents have and have babies."

However, Stefani revealed that her vision of happiness was shattered during her first marriage, admitting, "That dream was completely ruined; it was crushed, and I had to figure out how I was going to move forward and make a new dream."

She described Blake Shelton as the miracle that helped her rebuild her life, saying, "God putting Blake in my life was just that miracle."

Stefani also spoke about the strong example of love she witnessed growing up, recalling, "Especially growing up with this perfect example of love between my parents. They met when they were 15, and they fell in love, and then they had us [children], and they made us feel like we were everything to them."

Yet, she expressed the deep pain of not experiencing that same kind of love in her own life, saying, "And when you have a family and it's the opposite of that, it breaks up ... I didn't know what to do or how to protect my children. And I'm still working on that."

Gwen Stefani expresses her feelings about getting divorced from Gavin Rossdale through music

Gwen Stefani further reflected on her split from Gavin Rossdale, sharing her feelings through her music. She quoted lyrics from one of her songs, 'Somebody Else' saying, "Now that I’ve found the real thing / You don’t compare / And I don’t care that you’re somebody else’s / And it doesn’t even break my heart / You’re somebody else’s / And I pray for them whoever they are."

Stefani acknowledged the emotional depth of her music, noting that while she felt protective of her children, she also saw it as her duty as an artist to be honest with her fans. She explained, "I received the songs. Do I sit there in the studio and work on them? I do. But it's like, where does that come from? Where does the inspiration come from? Where do these words come from? They do, they come to me, but they're given to me."

Stefani continued, "So I feel like it's my responsibility, whether I have children or not children, to share that. It's a gift to me that I'm sharing with people." She also acknowledged that while certain songs might not carry the same meaning for her fans as they do for her, they still offer unique emotional experiences.

"And I definitely think that there's certain songs that they don't mean the same thing to me as they would mean to somebody else, because nobody's in my brain or in my heart or in my soul. They're going to have a different experience through the song," she said.

She concluded by sharing that her children are aware of what’s happening in their family, and they know "what’s real and what’s true."