Gwyneth Paltrow Dishes on Her Romance and Breakup With Brad Pitt

Gwyneth Paltrow opens up about her relationship with Brad Pitt, her ex-fiancé. On Tuesday’s episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast, the actress, 50, discussed their 1994-1997 romance that ended in a breakup. Paltrow recalled their instant connection while shooting the crime thriller Seven, as it was “major, major love at first sight.” She went on to describe the experience as “crazy” before going on to recount the couple getting engaged in Argentina in December 1996 after two years of dating. 

“One night, we were on the balcony of this house we were renting in this little town in Argentina,” she recalled of Pitt, 59, proposing. “I wish I remembered exactly what he said, but he proposed, it was fantastic, I was thrilled. We had talked about it, but I was surprised in the moment, I remember that. I must have been 24.”

After getting engaged, the couple never made it down the aisle, and six months later, they ended the relationship. The Avengers star revealed she called off her engagement because she didn’t feel ready to wed, telling host Alex Cooper, “I had a lot of development to do, looking back in hindsight. In a lot of ways, I didn’t really fully start to come into myself until I was 40 years old. And I had such a pleasing issue. I didn’t really even understand how to listen to my instincts and act from that place for what was right for me. I was always trying to adjudicate what was right for everyone else.” She continued, “When I look back, I really was a kid, really more than most 22, 24 years old I meet now. I really had not explored who I was, what was important to me, what my boundaries were.”

Paltrow said she was “totally heartbroken when we broke up.” “It was the right thing at that time, but it was really hard,” she added. “There were a number of things that had happened, he was nine years older than me, so he was far more … he knew what he wanted, he was ready to do it, and I was kind of all over the place, so it was really one of those difficult things, where I felt like, ‘Oh my God, not only am I not ready, I’m not living up to the standards again.’ It was a familiar refrain I felt about myself.” While they have parted ways, the pair remains close friends. “He’s a great guy,” she continued. “He’s wonderful, I really like him a lot.”The Goop website published an interview with Paltrow and Pitt last year in which they discussed being a friendly ex-couple who remains fond of each other. Pitt then said, “It’s lovely to have you as a friend now,” to which Paltrow agreed. “And I do love you,” added Pitt, with Paltrow replying, “I love you so much.”