Blake Shelton's love match with former fellow "Voice" coach Gwen Stefani goes beyond the two of them — it's a family affair.
Since welcoming Stefani into his life, the singer-songwriter has also welcomed her three sons into his heart, and during a Tuesday visit to TODAY, he confessed he couldn't be happier about it.
"I never saw that coming, but it's so fun," he said of the parental-like role he's taken on with Kingston, 11, Zuma, 9, and Apollo, 4.
And the 41-year-old is grateful for the surprise opportunity.
"At this point in my life, I'd kind of put that (aside), like, 'I guess that's not meant to be,'" he said. "And then all of the sudden it happens, one way or another."
The way it happened for Shelton was unexpected and hot on the heels of heartbreak. Shortly after he split from ex-wife Miranda Lambert and after Stefani split from her ex-husband, Gavin Rossdale, the two fell in love and merged their lives — and a big part of Stefani's life is her children from her previous marriage, of course.
The closer they all became, the more Shelton realized just how much the boys mean to him.
"Wow," he remarked. "I really missed out on a lot. ... I don't even know how to describe it."
But People's Sexiest Man Alive gave it a shot during an interview with that magazine last year.
"There's days where you go, ‘Oh my God, when does school start?'" he said of having the boys at home. "An hour later you’re going, 'God, I can’t wait ’til they get home!' ... They’re so damn funny. It’s just my first time being around it, and it’s easy to fall in love with those kids."