Gwyneth Paltrow has opened up about the realities of having a blended family with her current husband, Brad Falchuk, and her ex-husband, Chris Martin.
The Goop founder, 51, spoke candidly about raising teenagers under one roof in an interview with People published on 14 November. Paltrow - who married Falchuk in 2018 - discussed her life at home, which she referred to as the “Faltrow” residence. Speaking to People, Paltrow explained that she and Falchuk often cook dinners together with their children, while listening to music or watching a TV show in the background.
The actor noted that it wasn’t easy to bring her and Falchuck’s children together, but she’s now extremely grateful for the family unit they have. “It’s hard, and it’s not intuitive, and nobody tells you how to do it. You just stick with it,” Paltrow said. “Now it’s one of the things that brings me the most happiness in my life.”
Before Paltrow and the Coldplay frontman divorced in 2016, the former couple welcomed two children: Apple, now 19, and Moses, now 17. Meanwhile, her TV writer husband shares two children - Isabella, 19, and Brody, 17 - with his ex-wife of 19 years, Suzanne Bukinik.
The Iron Man star also opened up about her two children growing older, with Apple in her second year of college and Moses about to graduate high school. Although she acknowledged that she’s about to become an empty nester, Paltrow maintained that she didn’t want to call herself that.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk were married in 2018— (Getty Images for Netflix)
“I’m trying to reframe it so that I can at least try to convince myself there’s some kind of a silver lining,” she said. “Empty nest sounds so sad and lonely.”
This isn’t the first time Paltrow has opened up about her blended family. During a Q&A session on her Instagram Story in August, she spoke candidly about the challenges that come with being a stepmother to Falchuk’s two children.
“I did find it really hard at first,” she confessed. “You know? There’s no book on this. Nobody tells us what to do. And in fact, all of the existing media around what a stepmother is casts us in this evil, villainous light. It’s kind of like trying to avoid landmines.”
She continued to describe the difficulties of being thrown into a new family, as she pointed out how existing dynamics between each member are tricky to navigate all at once.
“You’re going into a family with dynamics, and there’s all kinds of fear around loss and what does this new person mean,” Paltrow explained. “But you know for myself, the minute I decided and fully embodied the idea that my step-kids were my kids and I loved them just as much, and I gave them the same rules and boundaries and just kind of wholeheartedly went for it, the easier the whole thing got.”
Earlier this year, Paltrow reflected on her use of the phrase “conscious uncoupling” when she announced that she and Martin were divorcing. During an Instagram Q&A, she said that while she “definitely did not coin the phrase”, she was proud that she and Martin 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,’” Platrow explained on her Instagram Story in April. “I’m very happy that we were able to play a small part in that cultural shift.”
