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Gwen Stefani relived her heartwarming love story with Blake Shelton as the country megastar concluded his final season of the NBC competition series The Voice on Tuesday evening (May 23). Shelton has served as a coach since the show’s first-ever season in 2011.
The Voice is the reason Stefani and Shelton met, the pop superstar said as she reflected on some of the couple’s sweet moments with one another in previous seasons of the show. They crossed paths when Stefani joined the show as a coach in 2014, at a point when both artists were going through their respective divorces. By November 2015, the power couple publicly announced their relationship. Shelton and Stefani got engaged in October 2020, and they got married in a ceremony at Shelton’s Oklahoma ranch in July 2021.
“Who would’ve thought this Orange County girl and this country guy from Oklahoma would find each other on the set of The Voice?” Stefani said as she reflected on the couple’s relationship on the night of her husband’s final episode of The Voice. “When I first came on the show, our lives were having this parallel destruction happening, and then next thing you know, Blake and I start becoming, like, besties, and falling in love. To find my soulmate, it’s hard for me to even talk about it without getting super emotional. The craziest thing about being on The Voice with Blake is it led to me doing country (music). Twenty-three seasons, he has truly changed people’s lives. The Voice is gonna go on, but Blake’s legacy will be there forever. The Voice is the reason that I met Blake Shelton, and my life completely changed after that. Blake, have a great finale, we love you, and I’ll see you at home.”
Shelton’s last-ever episode of The Voice was also honored with a sweet rendition of Green Day’s “Good Riddance,” performed by Bryce Leatherwood, RaeLynn, Cassadee Pope, Danielle Bradbery and other former Team Blake artists. Former Voice coaches — including Miley Cyrus, Camila Cabello, Chance The Rapper, Usher, Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas and others — also shared heartfelt messages to Shelton during the finale. Ultimately, Gina Miles, on Niall Horan’s team, was crowned the winner of season 23 of The Voice.
Heading into his last episode, Shelton shared a “bittersweet” reflection of his time on The Voice (and shared a tribute to the two artists representing the final Team Blake, NOVIAS and Grace West): “Can't believe it's been 23 seasons of @nbcthevoice... and especially can't believe today is my final episode. It's bittersweet. When we signed up for season 1, I don't think any of us knew what this was going to be.. These past 12 years I have made lifelong friends and memories. I've had the great opportunity to coach some really talented artists, 9 who have taken home #TeamBlake wins (let's make that 10 tonight?), and watch these artists grow so much from the show. Thank you to everyone... the crew, the coaches, the contestants, the fans, and my wife who have made these some really great years. Love y'all!!!!!!”