Gavin Rossdale is staying true to his parenting lane when it comes to co-parenting with Gwen Stefani. The Bush frontman recently revealed that he and his ex-wife tend to keep their distance while co-parenting their children Kingston, 19, Zuma, 17, and Apollo, 12. However, this style of parenting works well for them.
"It's an interesting kind of [dynamic]," Gavin told Fox News Digital in an interview published on March 30. "It's like a two-lane highway, but they don't ever seem to merge, which is fine."
Explaining how Gwen, 56, is "probably doing the best she can," and he's "doing the best I can," the 60-year-old added, "I'm a proud proponent of the system. It's fine."
However, the former couple—who broke up in 2015 after nearly 13 years of marriage—are on the same page when it comes to teaching their kids not to be "jerks."
"If you've got kids that are unlikable, they've got a tough life ahead," he explained. "Life is hard enough without being a jerk, without being kind of aware of other people, mindful of other people, considerate of other people, empathetic."
"And so all those things that I try to do my best in my life to be," Gavin added. He is also a father to daughter Daisy Lowe, 37, with ex Pearl Lowe. "Just try to show by example with my kids, consistent friends, consistent people around, and a sort of a steady approach to life."
This isn't the first time that Gavin has spoken about his current dynamic with the No Doubt singer, who went on to marry Blake Shelton in 2021.
"You can either do everything together and really co-parent and see how that goes, or you can just parent," he shared on Adrianna Costa's Not So Hollywood podcast in 2023. "And I think we just parent."
"We're really different people," Gavin continued. "I don't think there's much similarity in the way we bring them up, but I think that gives them an incredible perspective to then choose which pieces of those two lives they'd like to inherit and move on with and which part of themselves come out of the whole process."
Still, he’d like to maintain a friendly relationship with Gwen. As he put it on the March 2024 episode of Amy and T.J., "It’d be nice if there was sort of more connection with the person who made [the kids] with me."
But he’s also adamant on never speaking poorly about his ex.
"It's not my place to say anything," he continued. "I'm handcuffed because I would never want to overly say anything negative about their mom or stuff like that. It's just not right."
And even with the ups and downs he’s faced, the musician is proud of how he’s shown up as a dad.
"I just feel really proud of myself in my consistency as a father," he said on the podcast. "I know in my heart that I'm super consistent. Yeah, of course, like everyone, I'm flawed as hell and things didn't go as perfect as I would have liked."
"I never thought I'd ever get divorced. So if there's a simple shame in my life, it's that," he added. "There are no accidents in life; you are where you're meant to be… Life just unfolds how it should. And whether that's comfortable or uncomfortable, it just is what it is."
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