Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani announce engagement: A timeline of their road to the altar
After five years of dating, CMT Award-winning “Happy Anywhere” duet partners and fellow The Voice coaches Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton have made it official. The couple announced their engagement on social media on Tuesday morning, via a photo of them kissing in what appears to be Shelton’s Oklahoma ranch home, with Stefani giddily flaunting a diamond ring.
“Yes please!” was Stefani’s short-and-sweet caption, while Shelton wrote, “Hey @gwenstefani thanks for saving my 2020... And the rest of my life.. I love you. I heard a YES!”
Stefani and Shelton met-cute in 2014 on the set of The Voice, when she was still married to Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale and Shelton was married to fellow country star Miranda Lambert. When their respective high-profile marriages unraveled (Shelton and Lambert announced their split in July 2015; Stefani filed for divorce from Rossdale in August 2015), the two turned to each other for comfort, and a seemingly unlikely romance blossomed. The two went public with their relationship in November 2015, and they have been going strong ever since.
Below is a full timeline of Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s relationship.
@blakeshelton yes please! 💍🙏🏻 gx
A post shared by Gwen Stefani (@gwenstefani) on
Spring 2014: The singers became colleagues when Stefani joined the seventh season of The Voice, replacing Christina Aguilera. However, they were nothing more than co-stars (for a while) with Shelton later recalling he was bummed because he "never really got to know [Gwen], other than small talk" that year.
Summer 2015: Everything changed the following year when both stars found themselves going through very public divorces. In July, Shelton and Miranda Lambert announced they were splitting while Stefani and Gavin Rossdale announced their separation one month later.
October 2015: Dating buzz surrounded the NBC stars three months later when they were rumored to have been getting cozy at a Halloween bash. Sources told Yahoo at the time the pair was “definitely flirty” throughout the party.
November 2015: It didn't take long before Shelton and Stefani confirmed the romance speculation, a surprising move for celebs of their caliber. "Gwen and Blake are longtime friends who have very recently started dating," a rep for the No Doubt singer stated. The pair seemed to get serious quickly, with reports claiming Stefani introduced her beau to the three boys she shares with Rossdale. Stefani told Ryan Seacrest going through divorces at the same time brought them closer.
February 2016: Still going strong, Shelton and Stefani made their red-carpet debut at the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar party.
April 2017: Things appeared serious between the couple as Shelton continued to spend time with Stefani's children, something she documented on social media.
— Gwen Stefani (@gwenstefani) April 2, 2017
June 2017: Nearly one year after being in the "middle of hell," Shelton declared his love for his new girlfriend. "Gwen saved my life," he told Billboard. "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." (It was speculated, but unconfirmed that Lambert was unfaithful while Rossdale allegedly had an affair with his children's nanny.)
In the interview, Shelton talked more about how their bond started one day when discussing marital troubles.
"She didn't tell me much, because we didn't know each other at the time, but she said, 'I'm going through something very similar to what you're going through. I understand. And I hate it.' That's kind of how our friendship and bond started, that day. It went from that, to checking in on each other once a week through email — 'This s*** happened to me, what happened to you?' — to maybe three times a week, then every day, to 'Hey, here's my phone number if you ever want to text.' 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.
October 2017: The couple's Voice family approved of the romance, too. “They’re so in love it’s disgusting. It's so funny. They found each other at really interesting times in their lives," Adam Levine told Howard Stern. "It's really beautiful. Because it's in the public eye, a lot of people want to have their own bulls*** opinions about it, but I'm, like, there. I see it every day. I have a pretty unique perspective on it, and it's real, man."
November 2017: The cute couple recorded the loved-up duet "You Make It Feel Like Christmas," the title track of Stefani’s first holiday album. In an interview at that time with Yahoo Entertainment, Stefani credited her religious faith and a recent spiritual rebirth for allowing her to love again. “At the time when it was going down, never in my wildest dreams would I ever imagine the miracle that happened to me,” she said. “Some people don’t like to hear this, but for me it was a spiritual intervention. It was a true miracle. I think the only way I got through all the hard times is just my spiritual faith and my belief in God, because I’ve just seen the miracles around me. ... [Shelton] was just one of the gifts that I was given. And I’m so very, very, very grateful.” For the deluxe reissue of You Make It Feel Like Christmas a year later, the couple finally dropped a sweet music video for their duet, giving fans all the feels.
March 2018: It was obvious Shelton was smitten about Stefani, but he is equally as crazy about her kids. In an interview with the Today show, the country star said he "missed out on a lot" before spending time with her children.
“At this point in my life, I kind of had put [having kids] as like, ‘Well, that wasn’t meant to be.’ Then all of a sudden it happens one way or another and it’s like, ‘Wow, [I] missed out on a lot.’ And so having them around…I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s so much fun,” Shelton explained. “For a long time, it was awkward trying to figure out what my place is and in their mind too. The best part for me, selfishly, is discovering a part of myself that I guess I never really knew was in there. It’s definitely an instinct that kind of kicks in.”
April 2018: After going strong for two-plus years, Ellen DeGeneres tried to get to the bottom of when the singers planned to walk down the aisle.
"It's weird because, I get nervous when you talk to me about him," Stefani admitted. "I don't know why, but for some reason, the cameras are rolling and I shouldn't say something. So if I say, 'We are [getting married],' then we are, and if I say, 'No, we're not,' then that would be sad, too."
"I love being married," DeGeneres added. "I think you should get married."
"You know what?" Stefani replied. "I love weddings, the kids love him."
June 2018: Shelton hinted that he and Stefani might take their relationship to the "next level" sometime soon — while also admitting he thought she was just a rebound at first.
"I think in the back of our minds we both kind of thought this is a rebound deal because we were both coming out of a pretty low spot in our lives and we’re kind of clinging to each other to get through this," he said on the Today show. "But now here we are, going on three years later and every day that goes by just feels like a stronger bond between the two of us. It constantly feels like it’s going to the next level."
July 2020: While quarantining together throughout the year, the pair released the fittingly titled duet “Happy Anywhere,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Country Digital Song Sales chart — becoming their second country chart-topper after “Nobody But You,” which they had released six months earlier. The lockdown-themed “Happy Anywhere” music video was shot by Gwen's younger brother, Todd, while he was a guest at Shelton's Oklahoma ranch during the COVID-19 pandemic.
October 2020: Meanwhile, the couple’s adorable “Nobody But You” clip won for Best Collaborative Video at last week’s CMT Awards, to which Stefani reacted, "What is happening with my life?"
Name a freakin’ cuter couple than @blakeshelton and @gwenstefani 😍 We’ll wait. #CMTawards pic.twitter.com/9N2JGJRrTq
— CMT (@CMT) October 22, 2020
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