Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton’s three-year marriage certainly taps into the romantic notion that opposites attract. While the former is a long-time vegetarian from pop-rock roots, her country-singer husband is an avid meat lover.

But there has been mounting speculation that their lifestyle differences are beginning to drive a wedge between them, with insiders claiming that Blake’s loud-and-proud passion for hunting and fishing is wearing on his fed-up wife.

A source said last week, ‘Now that Blake is no longer tied down with work, he likes to take off on hunting and fishing trips, even though he’s not very good at it. Blake enjoys these nature trips and will spend a day or three out in the wild soaking it in. But the game he brings home and the fish that need gutting and cleaning gross Gwen out. For him to proudly wave his kill in front of her is unbearable.’

Blake, 48 – who will soon be releasing his first album in four years, For Recreational Use Only – has been vocal about his penchant for hunting. Earlier this year, he said, ‘I’m never going to dominate the hunting and fishing world, and 99.9 per cent of the time I’m going to lose. I’m going to fail. And that’s what keeps me hooked.’

In the same interview, Blake made a number of revelations, including that it would be ‘cool’ to catch a shark, that he has his eyes on shooting a prize mountain goat, and that he hunted his first deer when he was just 16.

He recalled, ‘[Deer hunting] just had me, man, I was so into it. The thought that these things were out there, and you could see their tracks every once in a while, but you never actually saw a deer. So, I became obsessed with deer hunting.’

Reports have suggested that animal rights advocate Gwen, 55, has made her aversion to hunting clear to Blake, but he considers it a ‘way of life’ that is ‘non-negotiable’.

One source expanded on the friction Blake’s hobby is causing, saying, ‘They agreed to disagree about his hunting back when they first got together. But that doesn’t mean it’s an easy thing for Gwen to handle. It’s pretty hard to have her husband out there killing animals for a good time.’

Three-time Grammy award-winner Gwen met Blake in 2015 when they starred alongside each other as coaches on The Voice, a position he quit in 2023. After five years of dating, the couple got engaged in October 2020 and tied the knot the following summer at Blake’s Oklahoma ranch.

But their different dietary attitudes made headlines before they even made it down the aisle. Not long after getting engaged, rumours surfaced that Blake had proposed to Gwen by slipping a Tiffany engagement ring into a bucket of KFC chicken during a picnic.

Rubbishing the claims when asked about them, Gwen said, ‘Are you kidding me? Oh my God. The whole thing has gotten so out of control. I actually don’t eat meat.’

But God’s Country singer Blake did touch on his adoration for chicken when detailing his idyllic wedding dinner.

‘If I was picking our meal, it would just literally be everything fried,’ he admitted. ‘French fries, chicken tenders, you know, all of that stuff. I think [Gwen] knows that it would be a pretty classless wedding if I was in control.’

Then in 2019, it was suggested that Hollaback Girl songstress Gwen was trying to encourage Blake to adopt a vegan diet amid his reported struggles with weight. An unnamed source claimed that the mum of three suggested that her husband ‘stay the hell away from meat and bad carbs’.

Despite the couple singing from entirely different hymn sheets where their hobbies and eating habits are concerned, one insider said last week that they ‘still seem happy, by and large, despite it all’, but did add: ‘That said, you have to wonder if their differences will eventually drive them apart.’

Gwen’s first high-profile romance was with her former No Doubt co-musician Tony Kanal between 1987 and 1994. Their split not only almost prompted the group to disband, but it served as lyrical inspiration for the heartbroken star, who said in 2005, ‘All I ever did was look at Tony and pray that God would let me have a baby with him.’ She then met Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale a year after her break-up from Tony, with the pair going on to wed twice, the first time in London in September 2002, followed by a Los Angeles ceremony a fortnight later. They called time on their marriage in 2015, after becoming parents to Kingston, 18, Zuma, 16 and Apollo, 11.

In 2013, Gavin admitted that he and his ex-wife are ‘really different people’ with ‘opposing views’. He explained, ‘I think you can go one of two ways. You can either do everything together and really co-parent and see how that goes, or you can just parent. And I think we just parent.’

When Gwen and Blake met on The Voice, it was following her divorce from Gavin, and the country star’s own marriage breakdown from Miranda Lambert. Blake – who has no biological children but is a doting stepfather to his wife’s sons – had also been married before Miranda, to his long-time girlfriend Kaynette Gern between 2003 and 2006.

Opening up about her husband last October, Gwen gushed, ‘The thing about Blake is that you will never get through a day without laughing. It doesn’t even matter what’s going on, the guy has so much patience and so much kindness in his heart. He just makes you happier every single day.’

Meanwhile, Blake – who has said he didn’t know what love is until Gwen came into his life – previously said, ‘The relationship that we have is so natural and so normal. This feels like the easiest thing I’ve ever been a part of. To me, she’s my best friend and everything that I need and lean on.’