Gwyneth Paltrow says she was "meant to be" with her ex-husband Chris Martin.
Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow in 2004
The 46-year-old actress - who is now married to producer Brad Falchuck - has two children, Apple, 14, and Moses, 12, with her former spouse, and believes that despite their split in 2014 after a decade of marriage, they were always supposed to be "together" in order to have their brood.
She said: "Family structure can be reinvented and divorce doesn't have to be devastating. It doesn't have to be the end of your relationship with somebody. I think Chris and I were meant to be together and have our kids. But our relationship is much better like this: friends and co-parents and family."
The 'Iron Man' star and the Coldplay frontman were separated for a year before they announced the news of their split - where they infamously used the term "conscious uncoupling" - and Gwyneth said the former couple tried their best to make sure it wasn't "really hard" for them or their kids.
Speaking to ES magazine, she said: "We were separated for a year before we announced we were separated. We kept it very quiet, and in that time I asked adult friends with divorced parents what they remembered. There was this resounding theme: 'It was really hard because for the first two years my parents didn't speak. It was awful for a while,' or 'My parents hated each other.' And I thought, 'I would really love to skip that part.' Those kids felt they were constantly betraying one parent by being with the other."
Her comments come after Chris recently joined her, their children, and her new husband Brad on their honeymoon getaway in the Maldives.
Describing it as a "very modern honeymoon", Gwyneth said: "We just took our honeymoon in the Maldives and we had a big family honeymoon over Christmas.
"So, my new husband and his children, my children, my ex-husband, our best family friends [all went]. It was a very modern honeymoon."
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