Blake Shelton on Helping Raise Gwen Stefani’s Sons: ‘I Never Saw That Coming’

Blake Shelton might not have children of his own, but he certainly enjoys the time he spends with the three sons – 11-year-old Kingston, nine-year-old Zuma and Apollo, four – of his girlfriend, Gwen Stefani. The 41-year-old revealed that he had given up on having any kind of parental responsibility, when he suddenly found himself in love with Stefani.

“I never saw that coming, but it’s so fun,” Shelton shared on the Today show. “At this point in my life, I kind of had put [having kids] as like, ‘Well, I guess that wasn’t meant to be.’ Then all of a sudden it happens one way or another and it’s like, ‘Wow, [I] missed out on a lot.’ And so having them around – I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s so much fun.”

The coach on The Voice previously said he wasn’t sure what his role in the boys’ lives would be, but it didn’t take long for his instincts to kick in.

“For a long time, it was awkward trying to figure out what my place is, and in their mind too,” he told People. “The best part for me, selfishly, is discovering a part of myself that I guess I never really knew was in there. It’s definitely an instinct that kind of kicks in.”

“They’re so damn funny,” he added. “It’s just my first time being around it, and it’s easy to fall in love with those kids. They’re pretty special.”

Stefani’s sons spend at least some of their time on his ranch in Oklahoma, where Shelton bought them a big gift to get accustomed to life in the country.

“I bought those ATVs as her boys started coming out more often to the ranch,” Shelton said. “I’ve got just a John Deere gator literally to use as a tool for work. They’re more fascinated by that thing.”

“It’s like, ‘OK, I can’t get anything done when the kids are here ’cause they want to drive this thing around,’” he continued. “So I got them their own little [ATVs]. I thought they were going to be slower than they are. They go faster than what I got.”

People’s reigning Sexiest Man Alive was just announced as a performer for the 2018 ACM Awards, where he is also nominated for Single Record of the Year for “I’ll Name the Dogs,” from his 2017 Texoma Shore album.

The 2018 ACM Awards will air live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 15, at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.