It's unusual for celebrities to be so open with the public about their break-ups, but Gwyneth Paltrow has been candid from the start about her amicable separation from Coldplay's Chris Martin. So much so that she gave listeners a rare insight into the split at Nicole Richie's Pearl xChange.

Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Paltrow is open and honest about failed marriage

During a Q&A at the Los Angeles event, Paltrow confessed her feelings about coming to terms with the end of her marriage in 2014, when she and Martin separated after 10 years, officially filing for divorce in 2015 and describing their split as 'conscious uncoupling'.

Asked about what 'goal or life endeavour' didn't turn out like she'd hoped, she very simply stated: 'My marriage'.

'I am from a tribe of people who stay married. My parents stayed married until my dad died for 32 years', she admits, adding that a good majority of her friends have stayed married, and thus she wasn't comfortably familiar with the idea of divorce.

'I had very high hopes for what my life would be like and I absolutely assumed that I would be in a long, successful marriage', she reveals. 'It was very difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that I couldn't do that and I wouldn't be able to be married to the father of my children for the rest of my life.'

More: Chris Martin has also recently opened up about the divorce

Indeed, Paltrow and Martin have two children together; 11-year-old daughter Apple and 9-year-old son Moses; but the actress insists that they are still very much united in their parenting.

'It was extremely challenging and not at all how I thought it would turn out', she continues. 'Luckily, my ex-husband is an incredibly good ex-husband and he's a great dad and he was able to do it with me in a really collaborative way.'

Since uncoupling, the pair have continued to spend time with each other, often going out for dinner with their children, taking day trips in the sun and even going on family vacations.