Inside Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert’s Former Relationship: Find Out Why They Split

Aside from their music, country superstars Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert made headlines for their long-time relationship! The musicians first got together in 2006 and tied the knot in 2011. After a nearly five-year marriage, the former flames shocked fans in 2015 by announcing their split. They’ve both since moved on — Miranda married Brendan McLoughlin in January 2019 and Blake announced his engagement to Gwen Stefani in October 2020 — but what went wrong between them?

It’s not exactly clear what led to the pair’s divorce, but it’s been reported that their long-distance love and infidelity rumors, which they both denied, put a strain on their romance. “This is not the future we envisioned. And it is with heavy hearts that we move forward separately,” the couple said in their July 2015 announcement. “We are real people, with real lives, with real families, friends and colleagues. Therefore, we kindly ask for privacy and compassion concerning this very personal matter.”

Since calling it quits, both Blake and Miranda have spoken about the fallout. The “God’s Country” crooner, for his part, opened up about heartbreak during an interview with Billboard one year after the duo announced their separation, noting his 10th studio album If I’m Honest is his “divorce record.”

“When we recorded the vocals for some of these songs, I was only six months removed from when all the crap went down,” he said in July 2016. “When you have a broken heart — at least, when I do — you got to get it out of your system. You want people to sympathize with you. I was at rock bottom, in the middle of hell.”

Similarly, the “Little Red Wagon” songstress got real about her public divorce while chatting with Health in November 2019. “When everyone’s worried about your personal life, it makes you feel like, ‘Well, if you could just spend some of that time talking about my actual art, that would be great!’” Miranda explained. “But I guess I asked for it, getting into this business. I’m never gonna get used to the public eye in that way.”

Now that they’ve both moved on, where does their relationship stand now? While Miranda did stay quiet after news broke that her ex had proposed to his The Voice costar, she did reflect on a “special moment” during her relationship with Blake in March 2021 interview. At the time, the blonde beauty reflected on cowriting his 2011 song “Over You,” which was inspired by Blake losing his older brother, Richie, in a car accident in 1990.

“My ex-husband, Blake, had lost a brother, and it’s one of those moments where even if you’re married to someone, sometimes you find something new about them,” the Texas native said during an appearance on Apple Music’s Essentials Radio. “It was really a special moment and I’m so glad we shared that song and that it helped his family heal, to have that together.”

Although there doesn’t seem to be any lasting bad blood between the exes, a source told In Touch Weekly in September 2020 that Miranda and her husband Brendan are a “much better match” than her and Blake. “Miranda doesn’t have many regrets,” the insider added. “But now, she’s with the love of her life, looks back and thinks to herself, ‘What was I doing with Blake?’”