Gavin Rossdale Admits He Wants ‘More of a Connection’ With Ex-Wife Gwen Stefani

From the outside looking in, it seems like Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani have an amicable coparenting relationship. The former couple divorced in 2016 after Gavin cheated on Gwen with their nanny and now, he’d like to have “more of a connection” with his ex.

“I feel bad for my kids, that’s it,” the Bush guitarist, 58, said during the Wednesday, March 20, episode of the “Amy and T.J.” podcast, while discussing the impact of the divorce. “I wish I could have found a way to not have that in their lives. It wasn’t fun for me to come from a broken home. It can be quite debilitating for kids … the overriding things is you don’t want to let your kids down.”

Gavin and the No Doubt singer, 54, ​wed in 2002 and welcomed their eldest son, Kingston, in May 2006. Zuma joined the family in August 2008, and Apollo in February 2014.

“The biggest thing would be when you see the kids that sometimes there’s a loss. It’d be nice if there was more of a connection with the person who made them with me,” Gavin admitted to cohosts Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes. “I go to a lot of events where there’s ‘the other team,’ so to speak, and I just feel really proud of myself in my consistency as a father. I know in my heart that I’m super consistent.”

The England native didn’t go too far into detail about his divorce from Gwen, noting, “I would never want to overly say anything negative about [my sons’] mom. That’s just not right.”

Gavin and former Voice coach ended their marriage in 2016 after rumors swirled that the family patriarch cheated on Gwen with their nanny, Mindy Mann. Gavin has never publicly admitted to committing the adulterous act.

During the same time as the musician’s podcast interview, a source exclusively told Life & Style that Gwen “wanted out [of their marriage], and he can’t get over it.”

“Luckily, the kids aren’t suffering. Gavin and Gwen always put them first and hide any tension when they’re around. And Gwen and Gavin would never badmouth each other to the kids,” the insider told Life & Style in a story published on Thursday, March 21. "Gwen just wants to keep things as harmonious as possible, but Gavin makes that extremely difficult sometimes.”

That being said, the source claimed that Gavin is still “stewing over the breakup” and likes to “stir the pot” with his former lover.

“He heard that Gwen and Blake [Shelton] are going through a tough time right now, so he’s using it as an opportunity to push Gwen’s buttons when he sees her,” the source explained. “Gwen doesn’t even like doing the kids’ handoff with him, because Gavin will say something obnoxious or act weird. That’s why Blake tags along sometimes, because Gwen doesn’t feel comfortable going alone.”