Gwyneth Paltrow ‘pretty proud’ of making divorces easier

The 50-year-old actress announced her split from musician Chris Martin, 46, in 2014. Photo / Getty Images

Gwyneth Paltrow is proud of making divorces “a little bit easier”.

The 50-year-old actress announced her split from musician Chris Martin, 46, in 2014 with a post on her Goop website which revealed they were “consciously uncoupling”. And, although Gwyneth takes no credit for coming up with the concept, she believes that their amicable divorce has helped others to move forward too.

In a Q&A on her Instagram, Gwyneth said: “I definitely did not coin the phrase, but I feel despite us taking quite a lot of s*** for it when we first announced that all these years ago, I feel very proud that we were able to, maybe, make some divorces a little bit easier, happier.”

”It makes me feel pretty proud when people come up to me on the streets and say, ‘Thank you for introducing that concept because I’ve become good friends with my ex’. I’m very happy that we were able to play a small part in that cultural shift.”

The term “conscious uncoupling” was first coined by Katherine Woodward Thomas in 2009.

Speaking to Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast in 2019, Gwyneth explained: “It is a way to circumvent [the pain of divorce] and go directly to the point where we’re friends, and we remember what we loved about each other, and constantly acknowledge that we created these incredible human beings together.”

Gwyneth Paltrow and Apple Martin at LAX airport in 2013. Photo / GC Images

”We’re a family, that’s it. We can pretend we’re not and hate each other… or, [we can] try to reinvent this for ourselves.”

Gwyneth and Chris have children Apple, 18, and Moses, 17, together.

Gwyneth tied the knot with Brad Falchuk in 2018, while Chris has been dating Dakota Johnson for over five years.