Gwen Stefani has admitted that she was getting “a little bit insecure” about her relationship with Blake Shelton before the country music star popped the question.

The No Doubt singer, 51, announced in October last year that Shelton, 44, had proposed, more than five years after they met while coaches on The Voice television show in the US.

The couple had repeatedly been the subject of engagement rumours.

Speaking on The One Show via video call, Stefani said she had begun to feel worried that Shelton had not yet popped the question, before flashing her engagement ring for the camera.

She said: “It was totally unexpected. I had just had my birthday and he had told my dad I guess and had the ring for a couple of weeks before. I had no idea.

“In fact I was going like, ‘Man, we have been together for like six years now. What is happening with us’ in my brain, like getting a little bit insecure. And so it happened all right on time for us.”

Stefani also recalled how he had surprised her with the ring in front of their children.

She said: “He had the ring inside this little cupboard which was to the side and he said, ‘Oh can you get me a fire starter out of there’ and I opened the cupboard and there was this big, gigantic diamond and I was like, ‘Are you serious? Are you serious?’

“Kingston my son was sitting right there and everybody came around and saw what was happening and everyone was crying.”

The pair met while both celebrity coaches on The Voice but Stefani admitted that at first she did not know who he was.

She said: “I was like, ‘Who is that guy? Why do people care about him? I don’t understand, I don’t get it’. I didn’t know he existed when I started the show.

“But very quickly I could see that he had crazy charisma and he is very, very loveable and he is very loved here in America.

“I know that you guys would love him as well. He is one of those really good guys that makes you laugh.”

Stefani has released several singles with Shelton, including Nobody But You, which reached number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 last year.

Stefani and former husband Gavin Rossdale, with whom she shares three sons, divorced in 2016.

Shelton was previously married to singer Miranda Lambert but they announced they were divorced after four years of marriage in July 2015.