Gavin Rossdale is reflecting on his "hugely emotional" divorce from Gwen Stefani.
The rocker discussed the tough situation on a new episode of Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes' podcast, admitting he "never thought" he would be an ex-husband.
The Bush frontman, 58, called the split "a simple shame in my life," as he noted the breakup also affected his and the blonde beauty's three sons.
"I feel bad for my kids, that's it. I wish I could have found a way to not have that in their lives," the guitarist spilled. "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."
"The biggest thing would be when you see the kids that sometimes there's a loss," he explained of how the divorce still takes a toll on him in present day. "It'd be nice if there was more of a connection with the person who made them with me."
Rossdale called the 2015 split a "very contentious, hugely emotional, flared-up situation."
Despite spilling his guts on the ordeal, the father-of-four — who also shares a daughter with an ex — noted he tries to stay away from mentioning the GXVE Beauty founder, 54, in interviews.
"Less said, soonest mended and I said nothing," he explained. "I'm handcuffed because I would never want to overly say anything negative about their mom. That's just not right."
Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!
Stefani went on to marry Blake Shelton in 2021, who has gushed over the joys of being a stepdad. In fact, the Barmageddon co-host was over the moon when Stefani and Rossdale's youngest son, Apollo, dressed up like Shelton when he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
"When he came down that morning, I was so happy and excited. He wears, like, athletic sweatpants or shorts all the time, so when he puts on the jeans and boots it's like, you know, it just warms my heart," the 47-year-old told a reporter at the time. "I mean, it really does to see him have a little bit of country flair to what he wears."
Despite the "Came Here to Forget" singer having a great relationship with his stepsons, it seems like he's not on the best of terms with the boys' dad.
Rossdale raised eyebrows last year when talking about his children's music taste, noting "My younger son [Zuma] is having a relationship with country music. That is a worry."
"I have gallows’ humor because I’m English. So, when you get Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash – of course – Merle Haggard, it’s a whole different thing. It’s when you get the [country] on the radio," he said of the genre. "Nowadays, it’s much more homogenized, that country sound. So, I was worried, but [Zuma] loves Zac Brown."