Gwen Stefani was tempted to call off the No Doubt reunion because she felt so "gross" and "out of touch" following the birth of her second child.
The Don't Speak stars reunited in 2009 after a five year hiatus, which saw Stefani release two solo records and welcome two sons, Kingston and Zuma, with rocker Gavin Rossdale.
Stefani started the reunion with plans for a new album, but after her attempts to write new material failed, she decided to relaunch the group with live shows instead.
And she puts the change of plans down to the crippling self-doubt she felt after becoming a mother for the second time.
She tells Britain's Elle magazine, "(The last) tour with No Doubt was the best one I'd ever done. I hadn't planned on doing a tour; I'd had Zuma, I felt so gross - I got so big and felt so out of touch and not cool.
"I was trying to write this cool record and nothing came out. I felt so bad because you've got this whole band waiting, but I couldn't write. So we said, 'Let's just go on tour'."
And the blonde beauty admits the shows were an emotional experience - because her sons were watching her perform old songs about previous relationships.
She adds, "We had no new single, we hadn't been on stage together for, like, five years and every night I'd get teary-eyed because of those old songs.
"I'm up on stage and singing songs about relationships I've had and I'm looking over and my kids are watching me. It's very surreal."
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