Christian producer Mark Burnett has weighed in on the relationship between Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, revealing he is "thrilled" the two "The Voice" coaches found one another.
Burnett, 56, made his comments backstage after his show took home the trophy for Best Reality Competition Series at the 68th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles Sunday.
"People go through peaks and valleys, lights and dark times in their lives," Burnett said of the couple, who began dating in November after meeting on "The Voice". "In the case of Blake and Gwen, both have had some dark times emotionally in their relationships. They had no idea by coming to work on a fun music show that they would find the loves of their life. They are happier than you can imagine and we are all thrilled to be their friends and see the happiness."
"The Voice," the NBC singing competition that pairs would-be stars with some of the top talents in the music industry, including judges Shelton, Adam Levine, Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus, took home the coveted "best reality" award for the second year in a row.
The show, which will kick off its 11th season this week, beat out Emmy vets "The Amazing Race", "Dancing With the Stars", "Project Runway", "Top Chef", and newbie "American Ninja Warrior".
Burnett, who married "Touched by an Angel" actress Roma Downey in 2007, has seen a string of successes in his Christian production following a number of hit shows and movies such as "Survivor," "The Voice," "The Bible Series" and "Son of God."
Speaking ahead of the release of his latest film, "Ben Hur," Burnett emphasized the importance of using one's' platform to spread to glorify God: "You have to make sure you don't feel like you deserve the credit or that it was because of you that it happened because it's [just] passing through you," he told The Christian Post.
Later, he shared that first and foremost, he views his work as a ministry: "How can you get the message of Jesus and Christianity to reach more people? Entertainment is an enormous opportunity," he told The Gospel Herald. "Look at 'Touched by an Angel' - ten years, almost 300 episodes, twenty million people a week hearing the message that 'God loves you'. 'The Bible' series, a hundred, a million viewers. People couldn't believe it - they said, 'Who's gonna watch the Bible on primetime TV?' ...The convergence of faith and entertainment can be really powerful."
