Gwyneth Paltrow Explains How Coldplay’s Chris Martin Was ‘Very Different’ From Her Other Exes

Though it’s been nearly 10 years since Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin decided to “consciously uncouple,” the Iron Man actress still has a lot of love for her rock star ex-husband. While dishing on her A-list roster of former flames during the Wednesday (May 3) episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, Paltrow revealed the sweet reason her relationship with the Coldplay frontman still feels different from any of her other romances to this day.

“When I met him, there was a very deep thing there,” Paltrow recalled of first crossing paths with Martin, with whom she shares 18-year-old daughter Apple and 17-year-old son Moses. “And I couldn’t quite put my finger on it because it felt very different than my other relationships.”

“It’s not so much that the relationship itself turned out to be healthier than my other relationships,” the actress continued. “It’s just that I think I had this deep calling on some level. I knew he was going to be the father of my kids, maybe or something. It was a very strong feeling.”

Paltrow first met Martin in October 2002, two months after the release of Coldplay’s breakout album A Rush of Blood to the Head. They tied the knot in December 2003 and were together until 2014, when the pair announced via a joint statement that they’d decided to part ways after more than 10 years of marriage.

“It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate,” they wrote at the time. “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 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.”

On Call Her Daddy, Paltrow also reminisced on how she and the “Yellow” singer were rumored to be dating before they’d even met, simply because she’d been spotted attending one of Coldplay’s concerts. The Shakespeare in Love star had already become a huge fan of Martin’s music, and when they did finally meet backstage at another show, Paltrow recalled that her future husband “was like Tigger the tiger bouncing around.”

“He was just so sweet,” she added. “I met him when he was, like, 25, and I had just turned 30.”

Paltrow, who’s now married to TV producer and writer Brad Falchuk, also played a game of “Brad or Ben,” for which the Goop founder had to compare the talents of her two movie star ex-boyfriends Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck. When asked about which “B” name was better in bed, Paltrow said, “Brad was like the sort of major chemistry love of your life, like at the time, and then Ben was, like, technically excellent.”

“God bless J. Lo and everything she is getting over there!” Cooper responded, referencing Affleck’s now wife.

Hear Gwyneth Paltrow revisit her marriage to Chris Martin on Call Her Daddy below: