Getty ImagesChristina Aguilera has known Gwen Stefani for years and spent several seasons on The Voice with Blake Shelton. So as one of the couple's old pals and colleagues, we can't help but wonder: does she approve of their new romance?
Well, let's just say, if the duo were competing on a relationship version of The Voice, Aguilera would totally turn her red chair for them!
E! News' Will Marfuggi met up with the 34-year-old Grammy award winner, and she praised both Gwen and Blake, giving the show's "first love romance" a big ol' stamp of approval.
"You know, I just saw them yesterday. I stopped and I popped my head into Gwen's trailer and checked in on her," she explains. "I've known her for many, many years, and because of the show, I've known Blake for ten seasons in now—how many years is that? So I know they're both amazing people"
Aguilera faced the hardships of divorce in 2010 when she split from husband Jordan Bratman. So she adds, "And I know firsthand what it's like to go through a divorce, and it can be hard for you no matter who you are or what you're going through, but then under a media microscope, it's insane! So my heart goes out to anyone going through it. Divorce is rough enough. Find happiness where you can, and if it's in each other, more power to them!"
She also sort of adores the idea that they're all part of the same show! "Everyone deserves to be happy, and I'm glad we're keeping it in the family!" She adds with a laugh, "That sounded weird… Not incestual type!"
And speaking of family, Aguilera is currently working with HopeLine from Verizon to raise awareness about domestic violence—something she witnessed as a child and thus holds an important place in heart. She opened up to us candidly about her difficult childhood and how it affected the woman and the mother she is today.
"It was hard but it made me everything I am today," she reveals. "I've been able to take my own struggle and turn it into a positive outcome. It's partly why I gravitated toward music. I think we all need our own release and escape when we're going through tough times, and you either get lost inside of the chaos or you understand it, you go through it and you thrive from it."
She chose the latter.
"For me, it propelled me forward to not make the same choices for my own children. My mom took her power back and was able to recognize what was happening and her self-esteem dwindling because domestic violence does come in all different forms and shapes. It doesn't have to necessarily be someone beating you or it being something physical. It's an issue that's so emotional. It's so mental and psychological that it's very tricky sometimes to understand or even recognize the red flags."
The "Say Something" singer took that knowledge from her childhood and applied it to her own life as she got older, especially while raising her two kids, Max Liron Bratman and Summer Rain Rutler.
"When I decided to have children, I definitely made sure I chose a partner in not demonstrating or providing the same cycle of abuse," she explained. "My children, I know, have the luxury—not even the luxury, it shouldn't be a luxury to feel safe in your own home, but it was for me. To not really have that, I knew it was very, very important for me to provide that for my own children."
She is grateful for the life she has been able to provide for her kids. "I can thankfully say they don't have to go through that and hopefully they turn to music as something they can joyfully appreciate rather than needing to have it as an escape because of unhappiness or trying to have it as an outlet from their own childhood inside of something you feel you can't escape."