Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton adore each other. They’ve been together for more than four years. Everybody wants them to get married. At first, I thought Blake was gun-shy about marriage after his second marriage (to Miranda Lambert) had a disastrous end. But I’ve revised by theory – Blake wants to marry Gwen but she’s the one holding things up. Why is that? Because she’s Catholic and she wants her first marriage (to Gavin Rossdale) annulled. As many Catholic commenters have noted, this is kind of bonkers – Gavin and Gwen were married for more than a decade, their union produced children and of course the church would have an issue with annulling that marriage. Well, maybe Gwen has finally realized that she was being kind of crazy?
Gwen Stefani is finally ready to take the next step with Blake Shelton. For the past year, the songstress has been desperately trying to have her marriage to ex-husband Gavin Rossdale annulled so she can marry the country singer in a Catholic church. But because the lengthy process is delaying their plans, sources exclusively reveal in the new issue of Us Weekly that the devout Catholic has decided she’ll marry Shelton — with or without the pope’s blessing.
“She very much wants the marriage to be recognized by the church,” says a source, but she also understands that Shelton’s been restless. Unfortunately, the process has caused “tense moments” between them, adds a second insider.
As Us previously reported in March 2019, the couple of four years “began the formal process” because “Gwen’s religion has always been extremely important to her.”
Now Stefani, 50, and Shelton, 43, are getting serious about the future. The second insider says the pair are looking to have a church ceremony in Beverly Hills and a big party at Shelton’s Oklahoma ranch. Babies are also on the brain. The mom of Kingston, 13, Zuma, 11, and Apollo, 5 (whom she shares with 54-year-old Rossdale), would love another child, says another source, but “if it doesn’t happen, Blake’s content with her three kids.”
Wow, did Blake tell her that he needed to put a ring on it or else? Way to go, Blake! I respect that – Gwen was being foolish with the annulment and a person can still be a good person, a good Catholic and a divorcee without an annulment. She and Blake adore each other – I hope they get married soon.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
An annulment is so disrespectful.
An annulment is so disrespectful.
Um, why? Gavin cheated on her and disrespected their whole union.
I somehow doubt they want kids.
She’s 50, so it might be a little tough.
Seriously….she’s 50. I know it’s not outside the realm of science or nature or celebrity for a 50 year old woman to have a baby, but can it be acknowledged it might not quote unquote happen
My father-in-law in a catholic deacon. One of his jobs is taking people thru the annulment process. I was just telling him a few weeks ago that I think it’s silly to jump thru so many hoops to pretend that a marriage never happened, even though it obviously did. I *think* the logic is that god never makes mistakes (even when joining two people is matrimony), so obviously he didn’t make a mistake with the past marriage, so therefore for the mistake to not happen, the marriage never happened (or was never “validly celebrated”). This is such circular logic, it makes my brain hurt.
Right? I mean, if you believe in God who watches over you then what, you marry, create family, kids who call your ex a father, a life for 13 years and then a piece of paper is supposed to make all these facts of you life just disappear, like it never happened? It is silly. I think that if your faith which explicitly says do not lie (no matter you were cheated yoirself) then do not pretend and it will make you a better catholic than another marriage inside a church.
By the way, are we ever discussing their new song together? So cheesy and sweet almost made me vomit.
Anya .. the only annulment I know of I totally agreed with..
My friend got married to her long term boyfriend after she moved cross country from Virginia to CA for a year. Her boyfriend joined her in CA and they had a big splashy wedding paid for by her father. Two weeks after their wedding she got a call from a woman who informed my friend that she was pregnant and her husband knew it before the wedding) and who further informed my friend that she thought it was a good idea to move into the house that my friend ( not her husband) bought in Virginia ..
My friend annulled her marriage both legally and through the catholic church..it was a fraudulent union and she was free and no one could take her assets.
A friend of mine had the opposite take. After a huge fancy wedding her husband’s family paid for (her family was poor), the husband had it after four years because he was a controlling MF and my friend wouldn’t be controlled, or “act right” (ie, cater to his every whim) or have kids (she told him honestly throughout their relationship that she didn’t want any). They got a divorce, and then a couple of years later he hits her with a demand for a Catholic annulment because of “fraud,” because he wanted a church wedding with his new young & stupid girlfriend. She told him where he could put his “fraud” & refused, even when he offered her money. She said she wasn’t going to lie & say their marriage never happened.
I find it weird that she’s being so adamant on this one point. I mean…surely they are having sex, which I assume Catholicism frowns upon before marriage. I don’t say that to judge, I just find it weird when people pick and choose certain elements of religion to be militant about.
P.S. whether the church annuls it or not, you were married before. Nothing can change that! So silly
The difference, I think, in the level of “sticklerism” is because marriage is a holy sacrament versus something just being a sin, which everybody does (I mean, that’s why there is Confession).
I think she just probably wanted to be married in a catholic church. I don’t think they will do that without an annulment.
They can’t, and she can’t take communion.
Exactly. The marriage won’t be recognized by the church & she will be denied Eucharist. Which, for someone who’s religion is important, is a pretty big deal.
It’s really rather sad. Gavin was such a jerk to her. He cheated, lied about a child he had previously all the while saying Daisy was his god child & goodness knows what else. She worked really hard to keep her marriage together & I felt both horrible for her & relieved when she finally let go.
She seems happy now. Get married & have your life. Religion was written by men to control the masses & make money. Religion & faith are v v different things. Go forth & be happy in the latter.
This is ridiculous! Gwen was married for years and had children with her husband. No frigging way she is entitled to an annulment. Get real, Gwen. This is for short term marriages or individual situations that warrant annulment.
A Catholic pal of mine insisted on annulment too, because he was cheated on and left and wanted to be clear that he was faithful and committed; principle of the matter. But lots of Catholics get hung up on the pope and the church recognizing the union and never even think of the fact that it’s God they’re supposed to be most concerned with, and God knows your heart, so … who the eff cares what one dude and his organization on earth thinks? !
The reason to get an annulment is because she won’t be able to take communion once she remarries. The Catholic Church will consider her to be married to two men (Catholicism is nuts) and thus unholy and not good enough for communion. I don’t think she wants to erase her first marriage, she probably just wants to take communion at her kids weddings or family funerals.
Yup, this is why my Mom has not remarried even though she and my stepdad have been together 23 years and have a 21 year old son together.
So change denominations and become Methodist? I understand faith being important – it’s important to me too. But the Catholic Church makes my head spin with all their rules and regulations.
Yeah…no. That’s something people do when they are not very religious or non-practicing members of the faith they grew up on. And Gwen is a practicing Catholic (note I didn’t say perfect – no such thing). But more practicing than many Catholics I know.
Religion & Faith is a BIG FLIPPING DEAL to a lot of people around the world. You don’t “just switch” denominations if you are a true believer and things aren’t going your way.
What MIGHT help Gwen, and this is a huuuuuuge reach, is by claiming the marriage wasn’t valid (not that it didn’t exist, but wasn’t valid – there’s a difference) from the beginning since Gavin has a history of relationships with men. Which can bring up a whole mess of other issues, but since annulment proceedings are confidential and kept within the Church, she might be able to get away with it.
She can come on over to the episcopal church, she can have Eucharist with us and feel comfortable and loved.
Sure, Jan.
They are just getting more out of this Pr relationship.
I know this has been discussed here before, but I don’t feel like an annulment would be totally offside. I had a boss who got one after many years of marriage (and a baby, conceived after they separated and not through him, but she put his name on the birth certificate and he decided to go along since he didn’t think she knew who the father was. Paid child support for 21 years. Good guy). The deciding issue for the church, with him at least, was whether they took their vows honestly at the time they were married. Because she was already using drugs and stealing from his family, and he didn’t know it, the vows were considered fraudulent and he was granted the annulment and a Catholic remarriage.
I mean, I feel like the whole thing is kind of silly, but that was how the church ruled for him in like the 80s.
I have a friend who got an annulment fairly easily because her husband had severe behavioral issues. (I can’t go into more detail without betraying an explicit confidence, but it was clearly illegal and immoral by even most secular measures.) They had been married for some time, and it was understood that she had made a honest effort to support a change in his behavior. I believe the official reason was also “fraud” as in my friend would not have married her husband if she had known about these issues ahead of time.
Without the headline I would never have guessed that the woman in these pictures is Gwen Stefani. Never. She looks amazing, but she looks nothing like Gwen Stefani. I can’t decide if this is a Zooey Deschanel “without your bangs I don’t know who you are” situation, except with dark red lipstick, or a Renee Zellweger “wow, that was a lot of surgery” situation. Either way, it would help if she wore a name tag!
Her religion is just not interesting to me and frankly neither is her relationship with Blake Shelton. After how he treated his first wife I can’t bring myself to care what he does with his romances and marriages. I’m more a fan of her than him.
As a 53 year old myself, I am amazed at how beautiful she looks and how her neck is free of sagging and any sign of jowls. Even when I was still bone thin, I was losing muscle tone at my jawline as I entered my late 40’s. Post menopausal weight gain hasn’t helped. I know she has had work done but it is really good work there.
The rest of her face does at times look a bit odd. I’m never envious of the fillers and botox and how that alters a person’s look. But I will always be envious of the actual surgical work that tightens up the neck and jaw when it is done well.
However, even if I could afford it, I’m always mindful of the risks and I only have surgery when it’s medically necessary for my health. I have too many people and animals depending on me to do otherwise. I’ll have to be content as I am.
I do color my hair and I’ve long wondered how she never, at least as far as I have ever seen, shown even a hint of roots. My hair grows fast and it is no exaggeration to say that if I color my hair in the morning I can see dots of my natural color at my scalp show up by nightfall.
Does she live with a hairdresser waiting on the sidelines with a bleach pen to touch up the roots through the day? Or does her hair grow very slowly? Or is she wearing wigs? However it’s done, the way she defies aging and nature seems a little bit like magic.
Finally, it’s interesting to see if they have a baby together. Given that she’s 50, I guess there’s a way to work past barriers of menopause or perimenopause with IVF technology. Whatever the case, I wish them luck on their choices. A baby at 50 would be another bit of magic for her to work.
I know it is all done with copious amounts of money and connections to exclusive resources. But it’s still entertaining to behold.
Her never show roots thing was fascinating to me, too, and she did comment about it at some point. Basically yes she has her roots done at any hint. She even talked about using bleach in qtips when she was younger. That is true obsession!
@Abby, wow, she really manages to attain a level of diligence that’s almost not human there!
I don’t think Gwen will ever be without a partner. She is never alone for more than a minute.
I thought I heard she used Q-Tips b/c her dark hair was very damaged from all the bleach but she *insisted* that she must always have platinum blonde hair so her team decided to appease her but used as little bleach as possible. This was circa 2001. I can’t imagine how badly damaged her hair is now. Maybe she uses wigs. In any case Gwen and Christina Aguilera should give the bleach a rest. Both look great as brunettes.
Didn’t Gavin Rossdale cheat on her? I thought adultery was grounds for annulment.
As other have mentioned she won’t be able to take communion if she remarries without an annulment.
Anyhow I’m not religious but I think it’s fair enough to want an annulment if you’re a faithful Catholic whose partner cheated on them.
she does realize that he would also have to get both of his marriages annulled to be able to get married in the church, doesn’t she?
if her marriage was annulled but his weren’t, but they got married, would she still be able to take part in communion if she married someone the church still considered to be married to two other women?
They weren’t church marriages. He’s not considered married if it was just a civil ceremony. If Blake had married Miranda or the first wife in a church ceremony that the Catholic Chuch recognizes, then yeah.
Kind of like the baptisms from other Christian communities that are held to be valid if administered using the Trinitarian formula. For example, the Catholic Church recognizes an Episcopalian, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Lutheran baptism….but not a Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, or Seventh Day Adventist baptism.
It’s complicated.
that is not true, the Catholic church has required Jewish weddings and civil (Legal weddings not done in a religious ceremony) to be annulled to allow for a wedding in their church. It’s nt about whether they recognize a baptism and someone to be Christian for the sake of communion (since you reference Baptism in MOrmon, JW and SDA baptisms)
She was deadly in concert in Vegas- one of the best I’ve ever seen – best 40$ I ever spent! (I was so shocked because I had zero expectations!!!!)
So I’m Catholic and going through a divorce after almost 17 years of marriage and three children. I plan to seek a declaration of nullity and my priest believes I will receive one. The confusing part about annulments is that it has to do ONLY with what happened at the moment vows were taken. Were two people fully able to consent or were there mitigating impediments that contributed to a sacramental marriage not being able to occur? Things that happen during the marriage can be used as an example to prove or disprove that the marriage is null. Gavin’s cheating might indicate that he did not intend to be faithful at the time of the vows or lacked the maturity and impulse control to do so. Did he have a history prior to marriage vows of cheating? Those are all indicators that he was not able to enter into marriage with the proper disposition. In my case, my husband has very serious metal health issues that are progressive but were present and undiagnosed at the time of marriage. This lends to the case that he was not capable of sustaining a marriage due to his behaviors that inhibit a safe, loving environment for a wife and children, and he needs caretaking instead of being able to participate in a reciprocal spousal relationship (without going into gory details). I also was essentially running away from my family of origin so that is a contributing factor in my ability to consent at the time of vows….I was young and viewed marriage as a way out of a very bad situation. Just sharing all of this to say that the length of a marriage has nothing to do with whether or not a sacramental marriage took place. A legal marriage happened, yes.
Well, could she get an annulment based on the fact that her ex husband seems to prefer men, or is at least bisexual? I’m not up on what the Vatican says about infidelity, especially based upon sexual preference and activity. It’s so stupid that so many people have to remain unhappy/single/whatever just because of some archaic rule.
Aw, barf!!! You just KNOW he’ll propose live on-air during The Voice…..
I think getting an annulment is silly when she spent so long with Gavin and they had children.
I also think it’s silly that she can’t get married in the church when her previous marriage ended because of adultery. Don’t most Christian denominations recognize adultery as valid grounds for divorce?
It sucks that Gwen can’t have a church wedding when she really didn’t do anything wrong. She stuck by Gavin for a long time despite how terrible he was.
I don’t think the hold up is all about Gwen. They aren’t even engaged. I don’t think Blake wants to get married again and he’s content with the way their relationship is now. He already had two divorces under his belt before the age of 40. Personally, I don’t care for them as a couple. I don’t see any chemistry. I’d really like to see Gwen be single for a while and get to know herself. She always molds herself into who her partner wants her to be.
I get the vibe she strongly dislikes being single for any amount of time.