Gwyneth Paltrow Discusses Second Marriage Regrets

Gwyneth Paltrow is opening up about a decision she and her second husband, Brad Falchuk, wouldn’t make again.

The couple, who have a blended family of four children, spoke about their controversial choice on the latest episode of Paltrow’s Goop podcast.

“One thing we did that was maybe a little bit different was, we got married and then didn’t move in together for a year,” Falchuk said during their joint appearance. “Would you have done the same thing this time ― again?”

“I don’t think so,” Paltrow answered. “I mean, I think at the time, we really felt like we were doing the right thing.

“We were trying to kind of land the plane very, very gently and slowly and get everybody on board,” she added. “But I’m not sure that it didn’t just prolong that thing of like, we don’t know what we’re doing. What do you think?”

Falchuk felt similarly and said he thought it “just gives the kids too much power.”

“Which is the opposite of what you want to do. You want them to have agency, I think,” he said.

“Again, as you say, don’t be prescriptive,” he continued. “I think them having agency is really important. But power, to actually keep these two adults from living together? I think it made them more uncomfortable and more like, ‘OK, this is not something that is solid.’”

Paltrow has often spoken about aspects of her second marriage that she struggled with, including taking on the role of stepparent.

“I really like to talk about this because it’s one of my biggest learnings as a human being,” the Goop founder said at a conference in 2024, according to People magazine. “And my area of growth personally came from the initial difficult relationship I had with my stepkids and now they’re like my kids.”

“It’s almost like you have to embody the spirit of the sun and just give and not expect anything back,” the Oscar winner said at the time. “I just learned to try to just keep shining like the sun and never keeping score.”