The Voice judge had lovely things to say about being a stepfather.

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Blake Shelton’s priorities have shifted since marrying Gwen Stefani in July 2021. While the couple, who met as judges on NBC’s The Voice in 2014, do not share any children together, Shelton is a stepfather to her three sons with ex-husband Gavin Rossdale: 16-year-old Kingston, 13-year-old Zuma, and 8-year-old Apollo.

“Look, I love music and I love The Voice,” the 46-year-old told Entertainment Tonight on August 19. “I love all the cool things I get to do with my job, but those things all take a backseat now to Gwen and the kids and it’s just a new phase of my life. I’m having fun putting out songs when I feel like it, and luckily the record label allows me to do that.”

Shelton also shared his initial thoughts on Stefani prior to meeting the No Doubt front woman. When asked how a younger version of himself would respond to their marriage, he recalled his confusion over the singer’s obsession with oranges, which have been featured heavily in her work for years.

“I would have probably said, ‘Are you talking about that girl that holds up the orange in her video?’ I never understood until now that she’s from Orange County,” he said. “My entire life of knowing who Gwen Stefani even was was ‘Is that the girl that holds the orange up in the video? Oh my God, she’s so hot, but why is she obsessed with this freaking orange, you know?’”

Blake Shelton previously spoke about his desire to explore this new side of his life in a March interview with Country Countdown USA. “What I’ve been looking forward to doing for the last four or five years is eyeing that timeline, that part of my career, where I just need to start stripping some things away,” he said, per Hello! Magazine. “You gotta get some life in there, and marrying Gwen, I’ve married into a family. She’s got three boys…and all of a sudden you go, there’s other stuff.”

Shelton told Country Countdown that Stefani had been initially worried her cohost would not want to pursue a relationship with a mom of three, but his love for his stepsons has only grown stronger over the years. “I didn’t know what I was signing up for, but I was all about signing up for it,” he said. “And every day I’ve fallen in love with the boys as much as I do with Gwen.”