Earlier this year, 59-year-old Gavin Rossdale went Instagram official with his (then) new girlfriend, an Albanian pop singer named Xhoana Xheneti, whose stage name is simply “Xhoana X.” The couple’s social media debut showed them celebrating Xhoana’s (pronounced Zo-ha-na) 35th birthday. At the time, everyone made a note of the physical similarities between Xhoana and Gavin’s ex-wife, Gwen Stefani. Both are bleach blondes with high cheekbones and an impeccable eyebrow game.
Since then, Gavin and Xhoana have flown fairly under the radar as a couple. While Gavin still pops up on her Insta page fairly regularly, he’s been touring with Bush this year, so most of his social media posts are pictures and videos promoting the band. On Sunday night, however, they made a “rare” appearance together on the red carpet for the 2024 MTV EMAs (European Music Awards), where Gavin served as a presenter. They even wore matching sheer black outfits.
Gavin Rossdale and his girlfriend, Xhoana Xheneti, made a rare public appearance at the 2024 MTV EMAs. The musicians — who have been dating since 2023 — walked the red carpet together in Manchester, England, on Sunday donning all-black ensembles.
Rossdale, 59, rocked a sheer T-shirt, sparkly jeans and sneakers with a white sole, while Xheneti, 35, opted for a scantily clad look comprised of a barely-there cutout dress, leather gloves and platform booties.
While the Bush frontman wore his shaggy dark hair slicked back, the Albanian singer — who bears an uncanny resemblance to Rossdale’s ex-wife, Gwen Stefani — wore her bleached tresses down and straight.
She also sported exaggerated makeup featuring a silver smokey eye and a bold red lip.
Rossdale and Xheneti posed for pictures together, taking turns looking lovingly at each other, before they made their way into the event, where the rocker presented an award.
The couple made their relationship public in March — when Rossdale posted a photo of Xheneti on Instagram in honor of her birthday.
“Hey finally got to have a birthday dinner with my girl @xhoana_x here’s to a year filled with magic for you ,” he captioned a selfie from their celebratory dinner date.
The pair went on to make their red carpet debut at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards the following month. For the outing, Rossdale paired black pants with a matching jacket, which he wore atop a bright yellow T-shirt, while Xheneti dazzled in a light blue wrap-around gown.
“Fun night in hollywood for the @iheartradio awards!,” he captioned a series of snaps from the evening. “Saw some good friends. Watched some Excellent Performances. Lots of good music. @justintimberlake!!! Go @greenday.”
The father of four — who became a first-time grandfather last year — and his leading lady were photographed packing on the PDA while vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in May.
Okay, we need to talk about Xhoana’s outfit and overall look of their matching sheer clothing. Something nice: they both look like they’re in great shape. Gavin, who was one of my middle school celeb crushes, doesn’t look a day over 49, and Xhoana’s body is bangin’. If she wants to flaunt it, then have at it. I get that they’re going for that rock ‘n roll look, but I’m kinda over the cut-out dresses like this. Is this trend going to end anytime soon? I love a good red lipstick look but I’m not sure how I feel about it as a part of this overall ensemble.
Oh, and for the record, when they went IG official back in March and everyone was pointing out how much Xhoana looked like Gwen, I was under the impression that she looked more like a young Angelina Jolie. After seeing these pictures of Gavin and Xhoana on the red carpet, I maintain that she is definitely embracing more of the Angie resemblance than the Gwen one. Just saying.
Photos credit: Heike Zwanziger/Future Image/Cover Images, PA Images/INSTARimages and via Instagram