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Gavin
ILLINOIS ENTERTAINER: Never mind
the irony that it mirrors Gwen’s gig on the
American edition of “The Voice” -- how
did you get that cush “Voice UK” job?
GAVIN ROSSDALE: That’s a very good
question. I think it had a lot to do with
have the chance to get to know him – we
were together 16 hours a day for five
months, on and off, which was a great
thing.
Gavin Rossdale
IE: What wisdom did he impart to you?
GR: My favorite thing about Tom is that he
doesn’t hog a room. I mean, he can take
over a room. But I’ve met so many boorish
people, and they go on and on because
they have all these stories, and they don’t
let anyone else talk. But Tom can give you
a devastating story about Sammy Davis,
Jr. and then sit back while you bang on
about shopping at the local center and
how long the lines are. He doesn’t hog the
conversation, and that takes a lot of grace.
06•2017
my…my…uhh..I don’t know. They were
really intrigued by me, maybe? I have no
idea. But I think, like usual, I was an
experiment. A tabloid experiment that
turned into a decent coach that actually
cared about his performers. My season is
all filmed, all done now.
IE: But how was it hanging out with your
fellow coach, Sir Tom Jones?
GR: He is incredible. We’re like super-
friends now. He’s just taken me under his
wing, and he’s such a great man with an
incredible history. It was a privilege to
8 illinoisentertainer.com june 2017
Because really, when he’s speaking? We
should all shut up.
IE: And you might have gone through a
painful divorce, but he just lost his wife to
cancer, and he wasn’t sure if he could ever
perform again.
GR: I know. I did a lot of interviews with
him where he would talk about that, and it
really shook him to the core. She was his
childhood sweetheart, and they grew up
together. So that’s an awful big loss. A ter-
rible loss.
IE: Still, going through a divorce under
public scrutiny has got to hurt.
GR: Yeah. And one thing that I was mind-
ful of and careful of through that terrible
time was to be as strong a dad as I could
be. So I did, and that’s what I continue to
do. I just dropped my kids off at school, in
fact, and I know that my relationship with
them is rock solid, and that’s all that mat-
ters. Everything else is never easy, and it’s
nobody’s business, but then it all goes
away and no one really cares. And even
feeling somehow vindicated or relieved of
all that pressure? You should just forget
about it. So I’m very happy. And obvious-
ly Gwen’s very happy – she’s been in a
long-term relationship with this guy
(Blake Shelton, her co-judge on The Voice),
so that’s all good. And I’m really getting
along with my boys, and I’ve got a great
new record, a tour, and so many things
going on. And my kids are healthy, and
they’re smart. And they make jokes – they
say things that are really funny. And that,