Gwen Stefani is a coach on the new season of The Voice, but for the first time, her husband Blake Shelton isn’t next to her in one of the big red chairs. Speaking to People, Gwen says she wasn’t sure about continuing on the show without Blake, but her fears were unfounded.

“I was really weirded out like, ‘What’s it going to be like without Blake?’ But we are having so much fun,” she tells People. “At the end of the day, coaching these humans who are so gifted … I love it.”

Gwen, mother to sons Kingston, Zuma and Apollo, says Blake’s stepping away from the show was “a huge family choice.” She adds, “I am happy for him because he has space to do all these other hobbies and things he wants to do.”

Speaking about her relationship with Blake, who she married in 2021 after divorcing Bush singer Gavin Rossdale, Gwen says, “He’s changed my life … when I [started dating] Blake, that’s when I felt home, like, ‘Oh, this is where I’m supposed to be, with this guy.'”

In addition to her work on The Voice and her beauty line GXVE, Gwen says she’s also writing and recording new music. Her last album was the 2017 holiday collection You Make It Feel Like Christmas, but she did release a single, “True Babe,” earlier this year.

“I’m never going to write anything that’s not just completely reflective of what’s going on in my life,” she says. “Before I wrote my first song, I was this dyslexic girl who didn’t know how I fit in. Then I was like, ‘Oh, this is my magic power.’ I’m so honored that I got the gift to be able to write music, and I take it super seriously.”

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