Inside Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s Friendship After Their Divorce

Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Invision/AP/Shutterstock; MEGA; Patrick Lewis/Starpix for Netflix/Shutterstock

Inside Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's Friendship After Their Divorce

Conscious uncoupling pioneers! Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin’s amicable post-divorce relationship set the blueprint for how to maintain a friendship even after the romance fizzles out. The Goop founder met Martin in 2002 while his band, Coldplay, was on tour in Los Angeles. In April 2013, Paltrow recalled their unconventional introduction. “It's funny because people had started writing that we were going out and we had never even met," she said during her Iron Man 3 press tour. “And then he was in Los Angeles doing a concert and an actress that he had a crush on was supposed to come to the concert. When she didn't show up, he was so annoyed that he said, 'Oh, this is for my girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow.'" The Emma star continued, "Then people were saying, 'What's going on?' I was like, 'I've never met this guy, I've no idea.’ And because of that, because people were writing about it, we ended up meeting at a concert and there you go. Because they had written so much in the press, his assistant came to my seat at the concert. They said, 'This is so crazy, but will you come back and say hello afterwards?' And that was it.” The duo tied the knot in December 2003 after one year of dating. Paltrow and Martin welcomed their daughter, Apple, in 2004 followed by their son, Moses, in 2006. Although their romance had a fairytale beginning, Paltrow eventually felt her relationship with Martin wasn’t the same. The Shakespeare in Love star detailed her awakening in an essay penned for British Vogue's September 2020 issue. [jwplayer dUfW9ab9-l3ahXupL] Paltrow explained that her realization occurred during a trip to Italy she and Martin took in 2010 — four years before they announced their divorce. "I don't remember which day of the weekend it was or the time of day," she wrote. ”But I knew – despite long walks and longer lie-ins, big glasses of Barolo and hands held – my marriage was over." Paltrow announced her split — which she labeled “conscious uncoupling” — from the “Fix You” singer in 2014. Their divorce was finalized two years later. The friendly exes have remained on good terms even after they both moved on from the relationship. Martin began dating Dakota Johnson in 2017 and Paltrow married Brad Falchuk in 2018. The Shallow Hal actress explained in her essay for British Vogue that she never forgot her favorite qualities about Martin, which helped them have a healthy breakup. "It's OK to stay in love with the parts of your ex that you were always in love with," Paltrow said. "In fact, that's what makes conscious uncoupling work. Love all of those wonderful parts of them." Scroll down for a look at Paltrow and Martin’s friendship after their divorce. [podcast_block]

Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

They Popularized the Term “Conscious Uncoupling.”

Paltrow announced her split from Martin in 2014 in a post titled “Conscious Uncoupling” on her Goop website. In her essay for British Vogue, the actress explained she doesn’t regret using the phrase — which went viral — because it described her feelings about the separation.

“It's very different for every couple but, for me, it meant, more than anything, being accountable for my own part in the dissolution of the relationship," she wrote. "There existed aspects of myself I was trying to heal through this relationship that I wasn't honest with myself about. I had been blind, guarded, invulnerable, intolerant. I had to admit that and be brave enough to share it."

Credit: MEGA

Their Relationship Post-Divorce Is Better Than Their Marriage.

Paltrow told the Evening Standard in January 2019 that she wanted her divorce to have a positive outcome for them and their children.

"Family structure can be reinvented and divorce doesn't have to be devastating,” Paltrow said at the time. “It doesn't have to be the end of your relationship with somebody. I think Chris and I were meant to be together and have our kids. But our relationship is much better like this: friends and coparents and family.”

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They Take Coparenting Seriously.

Paltrow told the Evening Standard that she and Martin have “managed to really stay a family" despite no longer having a romantic relationship. “Chris is a very close friend,” she said at the time. “I see him every day, I talk to him every day. And it was very difficult, but I think you see in the children that they got through it, so I am proud of us, I really am. We kept to our commitment that we would put the children first.”

Credit: Patrick Lewis/Starpix for Netflix/Shutterstock; MEGA

They Support Each Other’s Relationships.

A source told Us Weekly in August 2019 that Paltrow “pushed” Martin to reconcile with Johnson after the couple’s brief split in June of that year. “Gwyneth is happy if Chris is happy,” the insider said at the time. “She only wants the best for him.”

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They Vacation Together.

Paltrow invited Martin and Johnson on her honeymoon to the Maldives with Falchuk in December 2018. The foursome later vacationed together in the Hamptons in August 2019.

Credit: Courtesy of Gwyneth Paltrow/Instagram

They Celebrate Their Daughter’s Graduation Together.

“Congratulations to all of the graduates especially @applemartin 💜,” the Shakespeare in Love actress wrote via Instagram Story in June 2022, sharing a selfie with Martin and their daughter, Apple, 18.

Credit: Courtesy CBS Sunday Morning Twitter

They're Still a Family.

Paltrow shed more light on her friendly relationship with Martin during a September 2022 CBS Sunday Morning interview. "He's completely my family, and I love him," she gushed of her former spouse. "And he would do anything for me. I would do anything for him. He would do anything for our kids. We really did commit to wanting our children to be as unscathed by the divorce as possible."