Gavin Rossdale is opening up about the aftermath of his divorce from Gwen Stefani.
“The biggest thing would be when you see the kids that sometimes there’s a loss,” Rossdale, 58, said on the Wednesday, March 21, episode of the “Amy and T.J.” podcast. “It’d be nice if there was sort of more of a connection with the person who made them with me.”
Rossdale and Stefani, 54, tied the knot in September 2002. They welcomed sons Kingston, Zuma and Apollo in 2006, 2008 and 2014, respectively.
Rossdale shared on Wednesday that “the overriding thing” is how he feels “bad” for his kids about the split.
Rossdale, who said both his parents have been married three times, noted it “wasn’t fun” for him to come from a “broken home.” While admitting that he “never thought” he would get divorced, Rossdale noted that he doesn’t “live in regret,” but wishes he “could have figured out a way to not have that” in his kids’ lives.
“It can be quite debilitating for kids,” Rossdale said. “The overriding thing is you don’t want to let your kids down.”
Despite what he called a “very contentious, hugely emotional, flared-up situation,” Rossdale said he makes a conscious choice not to speak poorly about his ex.
“Less said, soonest mended and I said nothing,” Rossdale said. “It’s not my place to say anything. I’m handcuffed because I would never want to overly say anything negative about their mom. That’s just not right.”
After 13 years of marriage, Stefani filed for divorce from Rossdale in 2015, telling Us Weekly in a joint statement at the time, “While the two of us have come to the mutual decision that we will no longer be partners in marriage, we remain partners in parenthood and are committed to jointly raising our three sons in a happy and healthy environment. To that end, we respectfully request privacy from the media during this time.”
After their divorce, Stefani moved on with Blake Shelton, whom she met on The Voice in 2015. Shelton, 47, popped the question more than five years after they began dating, and the twosome exchanged vows in July 2021 and Shelton has become a hands-on stepdad.
Rossdale, meanwhile, went Instagram official with his girlfriend, Xhoana Xheneti, earlier this month. “Hey finally got to have a birthday dinner with my girl @xhoana_x here’s to a year filled with magic for you 🖤,” Rossdale captioned a selfie of the two out to dinner.
Rossdale noted during Wednesday’s podcast episode that the pair have been together for “a good few months” and she’s met his children.
“She’s very sweet and very supportive,” he gushed. “It’s been really good.”