The age-gap couple had been together two or three months when she discovered she went to kindergarten with his son from a previous marriage. Pictured, Stefani and Don Walper sharing a kiss during a hike.
Stefani explained that not everyone understands age gap relationships and she’s often asked: ‘How could she possibly love him?’ Pictured, Don kissing his wife’s baby bump during the pregnancy .She continued: ‘I knew Don’s son right from pre-school. We went to kindergarten, all through elementary school, all through middle school together,and all through high school. We graduated together as well. Our friendship was quite strong when we were little.’
Don and Stefani aren’t currently on speaking terms with Don’s son, but last year had a child of their own – one-year-old Lachlan. They also married last year and say they have never been happier.
‘A lot of people don’t understand that age gap relationships can be genuine,’ said Stefani. ‘Everybody seems to assume there’s got to be something else going on.
They talk openly about how they both consider their intimate lives to be the best thing about the relationship – especially in the early days.
‘Definitely the sex has been a great part of it from my perspective,’ said Don. ‘I have always had a younger state of mind. I have never ever felt my age.’
‘I always want to go out and have fun with the younger crowds and then hooking up with somebody young, you get the fresh perspective. It changes when you have a child but we used to have sex literally all the time.’
Stefani added: ‘2am, 5am, middle of the afternoon, before dinner, after dinner, in the middle of dinner, on the rooftop, on the balcony, on the floor, wherever.’
‘I have been with guys a little younger than me and my age, and Don is obviously the oldest. I like that it doesn’t last two seconds – he knows what he’s doing.’
Stefani revealed that while she has always been with guys a little younger than her, Don is the oldest. Pictured, the 24-year-old taking a selfie of her baby bump during her pregnancy
And while the couple remember their early days together fondly, they also recall some of the challenges they faced due to such a large age gap.
‘When we first started dating, Don felt a bit weird about it because sometimes when I would hold his hand or kiss him he was a little standoffish or stiff,’ said Stefani. ‘But I don’t care, he is my boyfriend, he is my husband.
‘I told my brother after a month or so after we started dating and he didn’t take it all that great, and then he told my mother. During the beginning, both my parents would pop up around town wherever we were.’
‘Some people are really mean,’ Stefani explained. ‘People insult me more than they insult Don because I am the gold digger, I am the one with daddy issues, I am the one who can’t support myself, I need a man to save me.’
‘Everyone thinks I’m a gold digger. Where is the gold? Give me the gold, babe.’
Stefani is also often mistaken for being Don’s daughter but she doesn’t shy away from letting people know that they’re wrong.
‘It doesn’t upset me or make me angry, I just correct them,’ she said. ‘When it’s very obvious we are a couple or we are together in a romantic way, and if you still choose to say obnoxious things, that’s when it bothers me. But other than correcting them what do you do?‘
For now, the couple are focused on raising their son and are not concerned about the uncertainty surrounding how long Don will be around.
