With two words, Gwyneth Paltrow had the world’s attention.
It was March 2014 when the Oscar-winner turned wellness mogul published a post to her Goop website revealing she and husband, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, had split.
The intense interest around the A-listers’ separation after 13 years of marriage caused the site to crash. It also sparked a cultural phenomenon that lives on today.
The Talented Mr Ripley star and the Viva La Vida singer met in 2002 and were married a year later. They share two children, Apple and Mosses, together.
READ MORE: Why Demi Moore ‘sabotaged’ her first marriage
In the post, dated March 25, 2014, Paltrow and Martin shared a joint statement.
“It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate,” they wrote.
“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, however, and always will be a family, and in many ways we are closer than we have ever been. 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.
READ MORE: High-profile relationship Sarah Jessica Parker had to end
“We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and coparent, we will be able to continue in the same manner.”
The post was titled Conscious Uncoupling. The two-worded term shifts the narrative on a traditional divorce. It’s a phrase that has followed Paltrow for the past 10 years.
There’s no doubt Paltrow helped the process become mainstream, though she certainly doesn’t take credit for coining it. That credit belongs to Katherine Woodward Thomas.
The licensed marriage and family therapist coined the term in 2009 and began teaching the process.
“I created Conscious Uncoupling when my former husband, Mark and I decided to divorce after ten years of marriage,” the licensed marriage and family therapist wrote.
“I felt confused, lost and even a bit embarrassed by our breakup, particularly because I was a known teacher of love and relationships. Yet our saving grace was the intention Mark and I set together that our young daughter have a happy childhood.
READ MORE: Cameron Diaz’s star-studded dating history
“Something neither of us had due to our own parents nasty and contentious divorces, which caused each of us to lose contact with one of our parents.”
The process struck a chord with Paltrow. During her split with Martin, she recalled friends telling her about their “hurt” at their parents’ inability to coexist.
“So Chris and I just said, ‘Let’s just never do that and let’s try to get through the hard part of this and remember our friendship’,” Paltrow told People magazine.
She said they have kept the promise, describing Martin as “like my family”.
“He always wants to do these fun adventures with [our kids] and activities,” she said.
“He’s on the road a lot, but he brings — it’s almost like he comes and sprinkles fairy dust.”
A year after their public separation, the Sliding Doors actress spoke candidly of living life separately to Martin while still being in each other’s lives.
”We spend a lot of time together. He’s been away for two weeks [promoting his album]. Last night he got in at midnight and slept here so he could surprise the kids in the morning, we could all have breakfast, and he could take them to school,” she said.
“So, we’re not living together, but he’s more than welcome to be with us whenever he wants. And vice versa: I sleep in his house in Malibu a lot with the kids. We’re still very much a family, even though we don’t have a romantic relationship. He’s like my brother.”
READ MORE: ‘I weep every time’: Coldplay song details Gwyneth’s secret grief
In the decade since their split, both Paltrow and Martin have moved on.
Paltrow married US writer and producer Brad Falchuk in 2018 after four years of dating.
Martin has been in a relationship with American actress Dakota Johnson since 2017. In early 2024, engagement rumours were confirmed.
“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’,” the Sliding Doors actress said during an Instagram live in 2023.
FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.