Gavin Rossdale Gets Vulnerable About Quarantine Co-Parenting With Gwen Stefani in Rare Interview

Julie Sprankles

April 12, 2020 at 4:52 AM·3 min read

Parenting can be tough under the best circumstances. But trying to figure it out amid the novel coronavirus pandemic is downright difficult — and in a rare new interview, rocker Gavin Rossdale gets vulnerable about co-parenting with Gwen Stefani during these unprecedented times. Suffice it to say, joint custody adds another dimension of complexity to the already mind-boggling matter of social distancing with kids.

Rossdale and Stefani share three children together: sons Kingston, 13, Zuma, 11, and Apollo, 5. While the Bush frontman rarely discusses the family dynamics, he candidly shared his feelings when he guested on SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation radio show on Friday. When asked by host Eddie Trunk if he had been able to see his kids much since the pandemic began, Rossdale responded, “Yeah, I took the first two weeks with them, and then they went to Oklahoma. And, you know, they’re on a 10,000-acre ranch, so we’re thinking it’s okay for now, but we’ll see.”

He then admitted it’s by no means an easy arrangement. “That is a real big dilemma for parents with kids with split custody,” he said, adding, “I know who’s around me — no one is. And I know who’s bringing me the coronavirus — no one is. But you send your kids out to someone else, and they come back to you and now you’re prone to whoever they’re with. So, it’s a tricky one for all divorced parents.”

Stefani, who was married to Rossdale for 13 years, has been hunkering down with boyfriend Blake Shelton at his Oklahoma ranch since social distancing guidelines were put into place. And now that shelter-in-place orders have been set forth and quarantine recommendations are more clear, it may be a while before Kingston, Zuma and Apollo are able to leave the ranch and return to their dad.

“It’s an unusual dilemma. There will be certain consequences that come up from this, from all different things. Basically, it’s a problem for everyone, and that is really hard,” Rossdale said of co-parenting in general amid the coronavirus crisis. “Plus, I miss them and [wish] they were back.”

View this post on Instagram

@blakeshelton #friendsandheroestour #nobodybutyou Gx
A post shared by Gwen Stefani (@gwenstefani) on Mar 8, 2020 at 12:22am PST

As of right now, Rossdale says it has been around 10 days since he’s seen his boys, whereas he typically gets them “every, like, five days or so.” Admittedly, he says, the initial days after his sons left felt like an opportunity for some grown-up downtime. “At first it was like, ‘OK, cool, you can be super-selfish. Play that guitar more,'” he recounted thinking. It didn’t take long for him to realize it wasn’t as fun as it might seem, though. “Now I’m just like, Hm, I prefer it when they’re around actually.”

Their solution? “A lot of FaceTime.” Of course, as parents today know, our kids’ version of FaceTime can look a lot different than ours. “They like to FaceTime… and walk ’round with the phone and get on with their lives but have you on FaceTime,” he revealed, joking, “So, I find myself in my kid’s pocket a lot.”

Before you go, check out other celebrities who’ve discussed co-parenting struggles.

Launch Gallery: 11 Celebrities Who Have Talked About the Struggles of Co-Parenting

More from SheKnows