From casual co-stars to a half-million dollar ring, how did Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton
end up where they are now?
Gwen Stefani first met Blake Shelton when she joined "The Voice" coaching team on Season
7, in 2014.
Both were married at the time so things started off platonically, but they clearly got on
well on the set, with Stefani posting her very first selfie with Shelton on Instagram
in November 2014.
In 2016, Stefani opened up about when their relationship took a romantic turn on "The
Howard Stern Show", confessing it was when Shelton told her and fellow coaches Pharrell
Williams and Adam Levine about his impending divorce.
She recalled,
"I just couldn't even wrap my head around it.
I didn't want anyone to know what was going on with me.
[...] I wasn't trying to start a relationship; I was trying to not die.
There was no plan."
Shelton elaborated to Billboard in 2016 about the stars aligning, admitting,
"That's kind of how our friendship and bond started, that day.
[...] Next thing I know, I wake up and she's all I care about, and I'm wondering if she
feels the same about me."
The world really started to notice the obvious chemistry between newly-single Stefani and
newly-single Shelton around October 2015 when the two appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring
Jimmy Fallon" with their fellow coaches.
Shortly after that, photos of the duo attending co-host Adam Levine's Halloween party went
viral, showing the twosome looking very cozy.
That came after the co-stars also attended holiday parties hosted by George Clooney and
Jared Leto, with sources claiming they usually left around the same time.
Shelton responded, denying he was involved with Stefani after rumors began to swirl, tweeting,
"The stuff I read about myself blows my mind.
Shouldn't I get to do all these things since I'm already accused of them?"
But the cryptic denials didn't exactly last long.
In November 2015, Stefani's rep told Us Weekly, simply,
"Gwen and Blake are longtime friends who have very recently started dating."
The outlet also reported that Shelton had big plans to introduce his new lady love to
his world by having her on his arm during the after parties for the CMA Awards.
But Stefani wasn't quite ready to confirm the news herself.
Shortly before her rep made the announcement, Stefani played very coy during an interview
with "On Air With Ryan Seacrest" when asked about the Shelton dating rumors.
Stefani even jokingly blamed NBC, the network "The Voice" calls home, for planting the rumors
claiming the two soon-to-be divorcees sparked up a romance.
She also hit back after Seacrest asked her point-blank if all the speculation about her
and the country star was accurate.
"I'm not going to answer that right now, Ryan.
I've given enough of myself to you this morning [...] I think he's hot.
Don't you?"
It wasn't until February 2016, three months after their romance was confirmed, that the
two would attend an event together as a couple.
The pair made their big debut at the Vanity Fair Oscars party.
The lovebirds looked happier than ever as they walked down the carpet holding hands,
and Stefani even performed a couple of hits at the event.
In May 2016, the two released their first duet single, "Go Ahead and Break My Heart."
Shelton told People he and Stefani wrote the song together in October 2015, but weren't
actually sure if it would ever see the light of day, saying,
"This song's important to us and the fact that we wrote it together is so important
to both of us.
[...] We both had trust issues.
We were getting over it, but we wrote this song about it, and it's perfect."
They didn't skimp when it came to promoting the song, either.
The loved-up couple performed the duet live several times, including on the show where
it all began, "The Voice."
Over time, Shelton became very candid about their relationship, notably during an in-depth
chat with Billboard, saying,
"Gwen saved my life.
Who else on earth could understand going through a high-profile divorce from another musician?
You can't even imagine the similarities in our divorces."
He added that he knows their romance came as a shock because they're such different
people, and opened up about putting his feelings about relationships into his album "If I'm
Honest," confessing,
"You can learn some facts of my divorce.
Maybe not specifics, but you can get a general idea about it.
It is my divorce record, but maybe even more than that, it's my happy, falling-in-love
record too."
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton joined musical forces again in 2017 for "You Make It Feel
Like Christmas."
The holiday tune was co-written by the couple and featured on Stefani's Christmas album
of the same name.
The twosome brought the Christmas cheer by performing the instant festive classic all
over the place, including on Stefani's NBC holiday special where Shelton made a special
guest appearance in her sketches.
Moving on to July 2018, Shelton was Stefani's biggest supporter when she debuted her residency
in Sin City.
Stefani cemented their connection from the stage, incorporating her boyfriend into her
performance by donning an all-denim ensemble as a nod to his country roots, telling the audience,
"You don't know what it's like to be able to wear a cowgirl costume right in front of
Blake Shelton.
It's my dream come true."
Stefani went on to explain Shelton's mark on her show on "Good Morning America" later
that month, gushing,
"He's just really an amazing all-around human so I feel so grateful for that.
[...] I celebrate him in the show, He's inspired me so much.
He's changed my life.
I was like, 'You changed my show, you changed my life.'
Such an inspiration."
On Instagram, she posted a photo showing the "Honey Bee" hitmaker chilling with her kids backstage.
Adorbs.
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton joined musical forces once again in 2020 for the super sweet
"Nobody But You."
Shelton explained of the song while chatting with ET,
"It just seemed to fit perfectly with our story, and musically I think it walks the
line of what I can do and what she can do.
[...] Everything just kind of aligned and came together and it's one of those once-in-a-lifetime
moments.[...]
The way she and I met and came together, it just felt like home, that's not an accident."
Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani managed to avoid the pandemic breakup curse by hunkering
down together with the latter's kids at the country star's Oklahoma ranch.
The couple even took part in one of the pandemic's ultimate activities: DIY haircuts.
The musical pair spoke openly about how they really found spending so much time together
in interviews, making the whole lockdown thing seem relatively easy, thanks in no small part
to a sprawling, beautiful ranch for a backdrop.
Stefani even described the experience as being "magical" to ET, explaining that she actually
kind of enjoyed it because it was the first time they'd been able to spend so much time
together in one long stretch.
With all that time on their hands, it was only natural for this collaboration couple
to release another duet.
The duo dropped "Happy Anywhere" in July 2020 alongside a sentimental music video made up
of personal home videos.
After five years of dating and around seven months of quarantining together, Blake Shelton
popped the question to Gwen Stefani.
The two shared the news on social media in October 2020, with Shelton sharing a snap
on Instagram of the two kissing in what appeared to be the chapel he built for her on his Oklahoma
ranch, writing,
"Hey @gwenstefani thanks for saving my 2020...
And the rest of my life..
I love you.
I heard a YES!"
Stefani shared the same photo to her own Instagram account, but changed the caption to,
"yes please!"
Us Weekly reported at the time that Shelton pulled the classic move and went to her dad
to ask for her hand.
As for how much the custom ring may have set Shelton back?
Well, according to the estimate in Us Weekly, it could be worth $500,000.
Around nine months after getting engaged, it was time for Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton
to head down the aisle.
People confirmed the news that they'd officially married in a ceremony officiated by Carson
Daly on July 3rd, 2021
The couple didn't quite get the exact wedding they originally imagined of due to the COVID-19
rules and restrictions that were still in place at the time, but it still sounds like
something out of a dream.
Stefani said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show,
"It got really small.
I had this fantasy of building like bleachers, but it got smaller and smaller, and as you
know, the Lord works in mysterious ways.[...]
It was so intimate.
It was so exactly what it needed to be."