Gwen Stefani would like everyone to know that her marriage to Blake Shelton is very much not heading for divorce, thank you very much.
As part of a new interview with Nylon, the No Doubt frontwoman was asked why she has chosen to keep being vulnerable in her new music—namely her duet with Shelton "Purple Irises"—despite the scrutiny it often affords her personal life.
But for the singer, the certainty she feels in her relationship just can't be touched by gossip and tabloid rumors, even those that claim there's trouble in paradise.
"But when you’re in love and have truly aligned values, nobody can get to us," she explained. "You can say whatever you want to say about our relationship—I mean, a week ago we were getting divorced again or something. It’s just lies. The truth is the truth, and we know what that is. And so that [negativity] would never penetrate just by me being vulnerable and sharing a song that I didn’t write for anybody else but myself and Blake."
Still, Stefani is honest about the insecurities she experiences in her marriage, which form the premise for "Purple Irises"—especially the issue of aging and perception.
When she wrote the song, she said, "I had been going through those times where you’re questioning: 'Oh my gosh, am I just getting older? Am I cute?'"
She continued, "In my own relationship, even though I know the truth of what’s happening today, you still create drama in your own mind about your insecurities and what might happen. I was in that phase of the relationship with Blake and getting paranoid."
Shelton shared that he has similar doubts. "It’s an insecurity we both have," he said. "These are conversations that she and I have with each other: 'Are you still going to love me when I’m old or if I forget who I am?'"
Elsewhere in the interview, Stefani opened up about her 2006 hit "The Sweet Escape," explaining that it now feels like its sad lyrics were foreshadowing her divorce from ex-husband Gavin Rossdale, to whom she was married between 2002 and 2015.
Stefani and Shelton, as for them, tied the knot in 2021 after meeting on the set of The Voice.
