Gwen Stefani Never Expected Her Life-Changing Romance With Blake Shelton

Gwen Stefani never expected her life-changing romance with country megastar Blake Shelton.

The pair met on the set of the smash-hit competition show The Voice in 2014, when they both served as celebrity coaches (Shelton marked his final season earlier this year). Stefani and Shelton tied the knot in 2021.

Now, Stefani — who is coaching on the current season of The Voice alongside Niall Horan, John Legend and newcomer Reba McEntire — reflects that she “didn’t see any of this coming with Blake,” she said in a new PEOPLE cover story published on Wednesday (September 27). “That was just a big old ‘What?’ It was an amazing gift to experience love like that for the first time. He's changed my life ... when I [started dating] Blake, that's when I felt home, like, 'Oh, this is where I'm supposed to be, with this guy.'”

Shelton has previously shared that he takes his role as a stepparent “very seriously.” He’s embraced Stefani’s three sons from her previous marriage, Kingston, 17, Zuma, 15, and Apollo, 9. While talking about the family’s life in Oklahoma, the pop-rock superstar told PEOPLE that her husband’s home state is “so beautiful, and you kind of feel like you're going into this vortex. Nature — and God — is all right there."