06 August 2020

Gwyneth Paltrow spills the beans on where ‘conscious uncoupling’ came from to describe her divorce from Coldplay’s Chris Martin

Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow has said describing her divorce from Coldplay’s Chris Martin as a ‘conscious uncoupling’ was a ‘bit full of itself’.

The couple divorced in 2016 after 13 years of marriage. They have two children together Apple, 16, and Moses, 14.

“I had never heard of the phrase 'conscious uncoupling'. Frankly, the term sounded a bit full of itself, painfully progressive and hard to swallow,” she wrote for British Vogue’s September issue.

"It was an idea introduced to us by our therapist, the man who helped us architect our new future. I was intrigued, less by the phrase, but by the sentiment.  

“Was there a world where we could break up and not lose everything? Could we be a family, even though we were not a couple?”

It seems they have been able to achieve being a family while not a couple as they spend holidays together with their children and partners.

Paltrow is now married to producer Brad Falchuk and Martin is dating Fifty Shades of Grey actress Dakota Johnson.

And while they aren’t together now, Paltrow reflects on the pair’s common ground.

"We laughed at the same things, shared a funny bones humour, impressions, utter silliness. We were moved by the same qualities in music: beautiful chords, innovation, harmonies.  

“Peter Gabriel, Chopin, Sigur Rós - though I listened for pleasure and he like he was studying for an exam.

“We were close, though we had never fully settled into being a couple. We just didn't quite fit together. There was always a bit of unease and unrest. But man, did we love our children."

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox