Blake Shelton reportedly proposed to Gwen Stefani — but she turned him down

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton may be zipping along in their relationship — but they’re not moving marriage fast, at least not yet. Shelton reportedly proposed to Stefani and even bought her a $1.2 million engagement ring to seal the deal, but the singer turned him down for a really good reason, according to Radar Online.

The couple has been dating for six months, but are hitting it off splendidly, so well that Shelton reportedly doesn’t want to wait to commit to Stefani and proposed to her at an outdoor picnic at her home by slipping a Tiffany engagement ring into a bucket of KFC chicken. Stefani, who has three sons with Gavin Rossdale, finalized her divorce in April and, despite the somewhat amicable details of their settlement, apparently isn’t ready to jump into another big, legal commitment. She reportedly found the ring, but said “no” to Shelton’s proposal, both because of her children (her youngest, Apollo, is just 2) and their age difference.

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Stefani is 46. Shelton is 39 and also coming to terms with single life after his divorce from Miranda Lambert. The big difference here is that Shelton and Lambert didn’t have children, and he is reportedly anxious to have kids of his own (with Stefani). Sources say she’s willing to give that some thought, but isn’t sure more children are in the cards for her at her age.

She’s also apparently not confident she is in a place in her life where she trusts that marriage is the long-lasting union she might have once assumed it to be — can you blame her? After being cheated on, the last thing most people would probably want to do is to jump into another marriage, especially when you have three children to protect and consider.

Kudos to Shelton for going all in on this and for trying to give Stefani a solid, legal commitment. But I’m on team Gwen here.

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Stefani simply has very little to gain if she marries Shelton at this point in their relationship. They’re still in the getting-to-know-you phase, which is a wonderful place to be, where all you can see is the good and the great in the other person. It’s completely possible to have an amazing relationship and not say “I do.” If marriage is something both Stefani and Shelton eventually want, it can happen in two years — or in five years or whenever. What’s the rush?