A lot of families are finding it really hard being stuck together during the pandemic, especially as we face the reality of another school year spent mostly at home, in some cases. That’s why it’s so sweet to hear country artist Blake Shelton’s comments about quarantining with his girlfriend, Gwen Stefani, and her three sons.
Talking with PEOPLE magazine, Shelton lays out what we wish quarantine were like all the time (although we bet even at the Shelton-Stefani ranch the kids argue and the parents sometimes desperately need a break!).
“The simple pleasure of being together in one place for an extended period of time has been a real gift. We cook, we clean, we ride four-wheelers and we just enjoy being with each other and with family,” he said.
Although Stefani is known as a California girl, the family has been staying at Shelton’s ranch in Oklahoma with the boys, Kingston, 14, Zuma, 11, and Apollo, 6. Stefani shares custody with the boys’ dad, her ex-husband Gavin Rossdale. It’s not clear whether the boys have been at the ranch full-time or not, but it sounds like Shelton is spending plenty of time with them.
Stefani and Shelton have been dating for five years, but the pressure to be a good stepdad is still on Shelton’s mind, he said this week on Today.
“That’s a scary moment for me because it’s one thing for me to be with the kids all the time and be their buddy, but you do have to consider after awhile that they start to listen to things that you say and there’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that,” he said.
During the pandemic, he’s taken time to show the boys a bit about country life.
“We’ve been doing things that I wished I had time to do for the last 20 years I guess. That’s literally stupid things like pick blackberries. We grew a garden, grew several acres of sweet corn.”
It’s clear Shelton has a special role with Kingston, Zuma and Apollo. On Father’s Day, Stefani posted a picture of Shelton and one of her sons with the caption “thank u for helping me raise these boys!!”
It hasn’t all been family time, though. Shelton and Today host Carson Daily said their families have formed a pandemic pod and have been spending time together.
Carson said, “I have so much fun when we go out to the ranch. We do nothing, it’s so fun, it’s just like an adventure. It’s like a movie.”
Stefani and Shelton reached the top of the country charts last year with their duet “Nobody But You.” Now, they’re promoting a new release — “Happy Anywhere.” Shelton said that although the song, with the refrain, “I could be happy anywhere with you,” seems like the perfect pandemic anthem, it was actually recorded last year.
With everyone needing a pick-up as the pandemic drags on, he knew that it was a great time to release the song. The music video was released today and features video clips from life at the ranch.
“We’re all still socially distancing, so there’s no better time to be happy anywhere with the person or people you love. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are — as long as you’re with them, you’re happy.”
Stefani, who contributes to the song, celebrated the release by posting a clip of the music video on her Instagram. “So excited and grateful about this song,” she wrote.
