‘The Voice’ Winner Carter Rubin Gushes Over ‘Second Mom’ Gwen Stefani: ‘She’s Incredible’

Carter Rubin was crowned the winner of Season 19 of The Voice on the show’s season finale this week, his victory also marking the first win for his coach, Gwen Stefani. Speaking to PEOPLE after his crowning moment, Rubin gushed over his coach and her continued support, sharing that Stefani was his “motive to win.”

“If I had a motive to win, it was definitely for Gwen because she is such an excellent coach, and she deserves all the credit in the world,” he said. “Somehow she hadn’t won yet, which is crazy because she’s so excellent at what she does. I was so lucky and so happy to give her the win that she so deserves.” The 15-year-old added that Stefani was an additional maternal presence during his time on the show and referred to him as her “little son.”

“She was my Voice mom, like a motherly figure,” he says. “We always joked about how I have my real mom here, and I have my Voice mom. It was just so much fun working with her.”

Due to the safety protocols in place on The Voice, Rubin’s actual mom was the only family member he was able to celebrate with in-person after his win. “It’s so weird with COVID,” he reflected. “[I had] my mom there because I’m a minor. After the show was over, she ran on stage to give me the biggest hug. I called my dad, my brother and the rest of my family and they were all just crying and so happy and completely shocked. Not shocked, like they didn’t think I could do it, but like they couldn’t even believe it was happening.”

Rubin has spoken on The Voice about how he was bullied for being different and credited Stefani for helping him with his confidence. “She always told me to just believe in myself and be myself on that stage because that’s what she did in this industry,” he said. “That really helped me with my confidence. She’s incredible. I think the win, for sure, helped with my confidence. I just know a lot of people are so proud of me and really wanted this for me. I am super happy with the way things turned out.”

Along with a $100,000 cash prize, Rubin won a recording contract and hopes to make a contemporary pop album. He shared that Stefani’s business manager told him he would work with him and that his coach said he “can always keep in touch with her.”

“I want to keep growing my music career,” he said. “Gwen told me that it’s time for me to start writing some music, which is definitely what I plan on doing. I have some songs in the folder that I’m working on, and I really want to get in a studio and start to record them.”