NW (March 14th 2016)

Gwen Stefani: ‘This album saved my life’ 

Facing the collapse of a 13-year marriage is hard enough. But when it’s because your hubby’s been fooling around with the nanny, that’s a whole new level of heartbreak!

So it’s no wonder Gwen Stefani was a ball of rage after discovering her now-ex Gavin Rossdale, 50, had reportedly been hooking up with their kids’ Aussie nanny Mindy Mann for three years!

And it’s even less of a wonder that she kicked his ass to the kerb!

But what’s a girl to do about a broken heart when ice-cream just won’t cut it? Well, Gwen grabbed the mic and channelled her fury into her latest album This Is What The Truth Feels Like.

“The one thing that has saved my life is going into the studio and writing music, because it’s everything I was meant to do,” she tells NW.

What’s more, the No Doubt frontwoman – who has sons Kingston, nine, Zuma, seven, and two-year-old Apollo with Gav – even believes her new album has helped turn her divorce into something positive. Talk about therapy!

“What’s so crazy is that sometimes tragedy, you know, if you really absorb it, you can turn it into something beautiful,” the 46-year-old reveals.

“And this whole album is about trying to take something that’s awful, and just, I don’t know, healing from it.”

And it seems her new boyfriend and fellow Voice coach Blake Shelton played a major part in that healing process. Indeed, her song Make Me Like You is an ode to the 39-yearold country singer.

“I will admit that song is about that guy,” she said recently. “I mean, come on, it’s so easy. My lyrics are so transparent, you know what I mean? I’m not trying to hide anything.”

Here, Gwen sits down with NW to get candid about break-ups, ballads and her new bloke…

You’ve been through a lot, Gwen. How are you feeling now?

Every day is hard but I live in the moment as much as possible. The only way to live, really, is to be present and that is what I am trying to do.

So is the album all about your split from Gavin?

Well, everybody knows what happened to me. I got a divorce, which was not in the plan at all. I’ve said it before but it was a shocking, horrible, crazy explosion in my life. At that time I had a plan to go and write new material. I had made a record the year before, but I hadn’t written [the rest of the album]. I did Baby Don’t Lie, which is interesting how those lyrics worked out.

Sure is! Did working on the album help you get through the pain?

Yes, I forced myself to go to the studio even though I just wanted to be in bed crying and do what you do when your life falls apart.

Is writing a new album easier when you’ve had your heart broken?

Even back in the day, before all this, when my boyfriend dumped me, I just started writing songs. I didn’t even know I could write a song. All of a sudden I became really empowered. It was like a wake-up call… I haven’t been able to do it for a while, but now it’s crazy because here I am doing it again… With everything that has gone down in my life in the last five years, I just got blocked.

Was it a relief to let it all go?

I felt like I was in this kind of cocoon and I was ready to bust out. Even before my life blew up in my face, that was happening. Writing this album was so incredibly powerful for me. When I recorded it, it didn’t really matter to me that maybe nobody would ever hear it. In the end, I wrote enough songs for two albums because I just blossomed.

How are your kids coping with it all?

You kind of want to protect them because there is always going to be disappointments, and you don’t want them to have to live through that. But when things are so crazy, you can’t really shelter them from it… Being a mum, making an album and being on The Voice, I feel overwhelmed right now – in a good way.

And Blake?

Blake is amazing. I have never, ever hung out with a country cowboy guy, but it’s really fun.

This Is What The Truth Feels Like is out March 18