Gwyneth Paltrow isn’t “Setting Fire to the Rain” like the rest of us sensitive souls after a bad breakup.
Nope. The Goop founder just revealed how she remains buddy-buddy with her past flames, and I’m taking all the notes.
Over the weekend, the Academy Award-winning actor took to her Instagram story to answer a few questions from her fans, with one asking, “Are you still friends with your exes?”
For context, Gwyneth’s old flames include a few leading men that are more than just household names.
She also dated her Shakespeare in Love co-star Ben Affleck shortly after, but the romance didn’t last into the millennium.
In 2003, she married Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, with whom she shares two children, their daughter Apple, 18, and son Moses, 16. They officially divorced in 2016.
So, the Emmy-winning Glee alum responded to whether she remains friends with these exes with, “Pretty much. I really believe in conscious uncoupling. When you spend meaningful time with someone, it’s nice to have it morph into friendship. I don’t want to have bad blood with anyone, ever (if I can help it).”
Conscious what? Apparently, the MCU alum has been popularizing this term, coined in 2009 by author and marriage and family therapist Katherine Woodward Thomas, for a hot minute now.
Gwyneth first used the phrase when she announced her split from Chris Martin on her lifestyle site, in a post titled “Conscious Uncoupling,” where she also addressed the nature of their relationship.
In the post, she said, “We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much, we will remain separate.”
“We are parents first and foremost, to two incredibly wonderful children, and we ask for their and our space and privacy to be respected at this difficult time.”
“We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and co-parent, we will be able to continue in the same manner,” she said.
As for ex-boyfriend Ben Affleck, she responded to a fan question in July 2022 about how she felt about his elopement with Jennifer Lopez, to which she responded, “Love!!! So romantic!!! Very happy for them.”
A month before, while she interviewed ex-fiancé Brad Pitt, about his clothing line, God’s True Cashmere, he said, “It’s lovely to have you as a friend now. And I do love you.” Gwyneth responded, “I love you so much.”
Today, Gwyneth is happily married to producer Brad Falchuk— but it’s impressive she’s able to maintain the peace with her old partners. That’s not for everybody.
