Gavin Rossdale 'stalked' Gwen Stefani to get her number

Gwen Stefani is convinced her now ex-husband Gavin Rossdale "stalked" her to get the singer's number after they first met.

The pop star initially crossed paths with Bush frontman Gavin in 1995, when her band No Doubt was recruited as the British group's new tour mates, but they didn't meet in person until Stefani was invited to attend Bush's Christmas show in Los Angeles.

"I think Gavin had requested I come or something like that. We already knew we were going on tour with his band," she explained to shock jock Howard Stern, before revealing she was instantly struck by the rocker's good looks.

"When I met him and looked up at him, I was like, 'Whoa.' It was different," she gushed.

Gwen, who had been dumped by her boyfriend and bandmate Tony Kanal just months prior, insists she has no idea how Gavin got a hold of her digits, but they began dating weeks after kicking off their tour, and she fell for him pretty quickly.

"Somehow he got my phone number, and that was that. He stalked me, I think," she continued, recalling how inexperienced she was at dating at the time. "I was only 26, and I only had the one relationship (before, with Kanal). I still lived at home when I met Gavin."

The stars went on to wed in 2002, and are now parents to sons Kingston, 10, Zuma, seven, and two-year-old Apollo, but Gwen's perfect family life was destroyed last year (15) when she and Gavin separated amid allegations of his infidelity.

They finalised their divorce in April (16), and Gwen admits she relied heavily on her parents to pull her through her heartbreak.

Reflecting on her emotional year, she said, "It's been an unbelievable journey. You can't even imagine. It did rock (my world). My parents were totally helping me through the whole thing. I was in a panic. I was in hell."

Growing tearful, she added, "I think, for me, I feel like I always wondered, 'Why did I get so unlucky in love?' I have so much love in me."

Gwen has since found happiness with country singer Blake Shelton, a fellow mentor on reality show The Voice, and

she reveals she "went white" when he first told his TV co-stars about his own marriage split from Miranda Lambert last summer (15) - because she had been dealing with her relationship issues in secret.

"He basically told me what was going on with him," she recalled. "We just started this friendship. I wasn't trying to start a relationship. I was just trying to not die. There was no plan."

"It was an incredible gift to be able to have a friend," she smiled.