Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton‘s love story almost had a sweet escape.
The couple—who wed in 2021 after meeting in 2015 as coaches on The Voice—may be inseparable now, but the “Hollaback Girl” singer recently revealed she was on the verge of making herself just a girl to the “Ol’ Red” crooner.
"There was a point where I was like, 'I can't even talk to you,’” Gwen told People in an interview published Nov. 25. “‘This is insane. I already have enough problems. This is not happening anymore. We're not going to text or nothing.'"
And the No Doubt frontwoman noted that both her and Blake’s divorces at the time—from Gavin Rossdale and Miranda Lambert, respectively—made 2015 a difficult starting point for the pair.
"We had just met, and it was chaos,” she added. “Both of our lives were in complete turmoil, all over the ground. Nothing could save us at that point.
But despite her initial hesitations, Gwen—who shares sons Kingston, 18, Zuma, 16, and Apollo, 10, with Gavin—explained that songwriting is what helped Blake persevere.
"I think he really wanted to impress me,” she continued, “because he doesn't really write songs as much as he used to. And I love writing songs. That's everything to me. That's where I get my fulfillment.”
So, Blake reached out to Gwen for help on "Go Ahead and Break My Heart," a country duet they eventually released in 2016.
"He sent it to me, and it was a half-written song,” she said. “He was like, 'Help me finish this.' So I wrote him the verse back—the second verse on the song—and it's just over text. That was our first song that we ever wrote together. We were never even in the same room, but we were writing a song to each other."
And for Gwen, she saw Blake as more than just a songwriting partner—she saw an answered prayer.
“Something that I wanted since I was a little girl,” she shared, “is to be married and have this love that I saw my parents have and have babies. 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.”
“God putting Blake in my life,” she added, “was just that miracle.”
Read on for more of the sweet words Gwen and Blake have said about their relationship.
Let the Rumors Begin
"I think he's hot, don't you? But to be super honest, it is kind of crazy we both went through the same thing at the same time. There's been so many people that I've gotten so much comfort from. Just people coming to me and telling me their story. Not confiding, but sharing, which has just helped me see things from a different perspective and move forward." —Gwen to Ryan Seacrest in November 2015
Look of Love
"How can I not be [in love]? She is the greatest. She is the greatest." —Blake on Today in March 2018.
"Saved My Life"
"When you have a broken heart—at least, when I do—you got to get it out of your system. You want people to sympathize with you. I was at rock bottom, in the middle of hell...Gwen saved my life. Who else on earth could understand going through a high-profile divorce from another musician?" —Blake to Billboard in July 2016
Country Livin'
"I grew up in Orange County, so I don't know if you've been down there, but it's nothing like the middle of America and our nature was the beach. So to be able to be in Oklahoma and be able to experience a ranch kind of vibe is just something I never ever had, so it's just been really, it's been great, amazing." —Gwen on Jimmy Kimmel Live in August 2020
Wedding Bells
"You know, what? I love weddings. The kids love him. We love him. Everybody loves him. He is lovable! I think about it all the time." —Gwen to Ellen DeGeneres when discussing marrying Blake
Fierce Fashion
"[My style is] more feminine than ever before. It's probably because I'm super in love and have a really manly man. I enjoy letting that part of me come out now because when I was in No Doubt, I never thought of myself as sexy. Even in my 30s, I was a tomboy. I hardly ever carried a purse." —Gwen to InStyle in July 2018
Sexiest Man Alive
"He doesn't even like to do a photo shoot. You can never convince him to do it. So he just called me like, ‘They want me to do this.' And I was like, ‘You should totally do it! You're so sexy!'" —Gwen's reaction to Blake being named People's Sexiest Man Alive
Hot Commodity
"He's so good at the show, I mean, he's just so magical. Blake is literally a unicorn. Like anywhere he goes, people are just attracted to him, and he's such an incredible talent." —Gwen on SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live in September 2019
Biggest Fans
"Setting here watching @gwenstefani rehearsals it continues to shock me the amount of GIANT hits this girl has written... I highly recommend y'all catch her Vegas show if you can get tickets!!!" —Blake on Twitter in June 2018
A Hand to Hold
"I think she's kept me from going to the absolute bottom. It was like literally falling off a cliff and a hand reached out and caught me, is what it feels like. I've never had that with somebody where it just felt like no matter what, she has my back. It's the greatest feeling." — Blake on Good Dish in March 2022
Unexpected Miracles
“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. 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. And God putting Blake in my life was just that miracle.” — Gwen to People in November 2024
"A Second Chance at Life"
“Meeting my husband felt like a second chance at life. Because when my family fell apart, it felt like a catastrophe. How do you pick yourself up from that? But God put this other person there to love me.” — Gwen to The Guardian in November 2024