In 2014, Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay’s Chris Martin shocked the world by announcing their “intentional separation” after a decade of marriage. Despite their separation, the couple, who share two children, have remained close and are handling their breakup with a focus on family unity. Both have since found new partners and happiness, with Gwyneth marrying director Brad Falchuk and Chris engaged to actress Dakota Johnson. Gwyneth recently opened up about the moment she realized their marriage was over and how.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin revealed in 2014 that they were consciously separating.
At the time, the couple had been married for 10 years and had two children, daughter Apple, who is now 20, and son Moses, who is 18. From the outside, it seemed like all was well — until Gwyneth announced on her Goop website that she and Chris had ended the relationship.
The couple released a joint statement, saying, “It is with great sadness that we announce our separation. Despite our deep love for each other, we have decided to live apart. The truth is that we are and will always be a family, and in many ways we are closer than ever.”
During “this difficult time,” the former couple requested privacy from the public, saying they “are parents first and foremost” and coined the now-famous term for the breakup: “We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we expect to continue in that way as we consciously separate and co-parent.”
In the years since their 2015 separation and divorce, Gwyneth and Chris have been spotted celebrating holidays together, celebrating birthdays and Christmas as a family, and have both gone on to meet new partners. In 2018, Gwyneth married American Horror Story, Glee and Scream Queens director Brad Falchuk (53). Chris, 47, has since found love with 34-year-old Dakota Johnson, who also hangs out with Gwyneth. After six years of dating, Dakota and Chris got engaged in March, according to the Mirror.
Gwyneth recalls the moment she thought her marriage was over, although they are now both happy in their new relationship.
Recalling a happy day spent with her husband, she felt incomplete inside
In an essay for British Vogue she wrote, “It was my birthday, my 38th birthday. My ex-husband (Chris) and I were staying in a beautiful cottage on a hill in the Tuscan countryside with a view of the woods. Fall was approaching; the leaves were just loosening their grip on the bright green.”
According to her, the interior of the cottage was perfect for celebrating a birthday: a cozy living room with a fireplace and a kitchen table filled with produce from a nearby farm – peaches, tomatoes on the vine, basil, eggs. Gwyneth didn’t remember exactly when it happened or what day or time it was. Despite the long walks, long lay-ins, large glasses of Barolo, and holding hands, she knew it was over. Despite the pain of her realization, Gwyneth kept it to herself.
According to Gwyneth, she shared her “funny sense of humor” and “extremely silly” behavior with Chris ever since they were kids, “We were close, even though we never fully established ourselves as a couple. There was something missing between us. There was always a sense of uneasiness and unrest. But man, we loved our kids so much.”
She said she tried her best to keep her family together before ending the relationship, adding that she had only seen bitter, acrimonious, endless divorces growing up, which she did not want “with all her heart.”
Gwyneth and Chris coined the term, but their therapist suggested ‘conscious dissociation,’ which they experimented with in private for a full year before announcing their separation.
Gwyneth added, “Was there a world where we could separate without losing everything? Even though we weren’t a couple, could we be a family? We decided to try.” Her announcement caused a media stir, but she said, “People’s surprise was followed by a strange mixture of derision and anger that I’ve never seen before”. Nowadays, instead of ridiculing her, people ask her how she did it.