Gavin Rossdale Opened Up About How He Navigates Co-Parenting With Gwen Stefani

Gavin Rossdale has been a single dad since he and ex-wife Gwen Stefani divorced in August 2015. The frontman for the iconic ‘90s-era band Bush has since had to learn how to co-parent, and as so many of us are well aware, it’s not really ever a one-size-fits-all sort of arrangement. Some parents manage to stay best friends, others find themselves unable to be in the same room together. So where does Gavin Rossdale figure within the spectrum of co-parenting relationships? In a new interview with Fatherly, he shared that he is learning to raise his kids “autonomously” when they are with him, and teaching his kids the benefits of seeing two different ways of life.

Rossdale, who is dad to 17-year-old Kingston, 14-year-old Zuma, and 9-year-old Apollo with Stefani, as well as 33-year-old daughter Daisy from a previous relationship, spoke to Fatherly about his life at home with his family. When asked to describe how he navigates co-parenting, Rossdale explained, “It really is about putting the children first. That’s how it works really. I can run my kids autonomously, which is good. When they come around me they know the drills.”

“What’s interesting for them, and what I think is best for my kids, is that they get the chance to see two opposing ways of life — diametrically opposed systems,” he added. “They get to make their minds up by the time they leave. Because we, as parents, overrate our input. They’re gonna become who they are. That’s why kids are all different. People say, ‘Can you believe how different our kids are?’ Yeah, of course, ‘cause that's how it works. I’ve always said to my kids that that’s the benefit. They get two opposing views and they can take and glean what they want and what they believe in. And, they don’t have to believe either of us.”

When Rossdale and Stefani announced their decision to divorce in 2015, they put out a joint statement about their plans to focus on their kids. “While the two of us have come to the mutual decision that we will no longer be partners in marriage, we remain partners in parenthood and are committed to jointly raising our three sons in a happy and healthy environment,” the couple said in a statement at the time.

Now eight years have passed. Stefani went on to marry Blake Shelton in 2021, while Rossdale has not remarried. Instead, he does seem to be pretty focused on raising his children and setting a good example to his sons on what “manliness” really looks like. For him, Rossdale told Fatherly that he feels manly when “I’m in the kitchen at 6:00 a.m. letting the meat come to room temperature that I’m gonna cook for the kids’ lunch, putting the rice on, getting the dog’s medicine ready — and then gonna wake my kids up and do it gently.”