Gwyneth Paltrow Reveals It Was “Love at First Sight” With Brad Pitt | She Was “Heartbroken” When They Split

Gwyneth Paltrow is getting very candid about her famous exes: Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck. The 50-year-old was with Affleck in an off-and-on relationship from 1997 to 2000. Paltrow was in a much more serious relationship with Pitt, from 1994 to 1997, when they even got engaged but ultimately called it off. Paltrow said the split with her ex-fiance was incredibly difficult for her. 

On the latest episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast the Shallow Hal star said she was "totally heartbroken" when they split. The connection between the two was instant when they first met on the set of their 1995 film Seven, which she described as “major love at first sight” and “crazy.” The two ended up getting engaged in Argentina in December 1996 after two years of dating, according to PEOPLE.

"One night we were on the balcony of this house we were renting in this little town in Argentina," she recalled of the 59-year-old actor 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." 

The happiness was short-lived because just 6 months later they called off the engagement as Paltrow didn't feel ready to take the leap. "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 confessed.

While the decision was incredibly difficult she still sticks by it. “It was the right thing at that time, but it was really hard,” she said. "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," she said. Over the years the two maintained a friendship despite their split. "He's a great guy," she continued. "He's wonderful, I really like him a lot."

As for Affleck, she said he was more likely to make her laugh and get into an argument with her. Pitt was more romantic, she admitted. As to who was a better kisser, Paltrow got honest. They were both great kissers and she found it difficult to rate who was better in bed.

“Brad was like the sort of major chemistry, love of your life, kind of, at the time,” Paltrow said. “Ben was like technically excellent.” She then said with a laugh, "I can't believe my daughter is listening to this!" Paltrow later went on to marry Coldplay frontman Chris Martin in 2003. They divorced in 2016 and two years later she married producer Brad Falchuk, per CNN.

References:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/68TwJ4JqCk68TxCzEgcL4n

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/03/entertainment/gwyneth-paltrow-brad-pitt-ben-affleck/index.html

https://people.com/movies/gwyneth-paltrow-love-at-first-sight-brad-pitt-heartbroken/

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | (L) Frazer Harrison; (R) Diane Freed