Gwyneth Paltrow's mother Blythe Danner admits confusion over 'conscious uncoupling'

Gwyneth Paltrow has often been mocked for using the term "conscious uncoupling" when announcing her split from Chris Martin, and now even her own mother Blythe Danner admits she doesn't understand what it means. The 71-year-old stumbled over her words as she tried to discuss the couple's split at Sundance Film Festival.

"People make fun of this, um, what do they call it? What is this thing that they've been doing? Separating, but being?" Blythe said to Page Six.

After being reminded of the term "conscious uncoupling", the 71-year-old mispronounced her words before praising Gwyneth and her former son-in-law Chris.

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Blythe Danner admitted she was confused about the term "conscious uncoupling"

"They are so smart…both incredibly brilliant," she said. "They're making it work, they're great friends and the kids are in wonderful shape. So I have to take my hat off to both of them."

Blythe is currently in Utah promoting her new film I'll See You in My Dreams. The actress is not the only person to have questioned the unusual phrase - even Gwyneth has admitted that she "made a mistake" in using it.

"I didn't give it context. But it is a goofy term," she admitted to radio DJ Howard Stern on his SiriusXM radio show in January.

The MortDecai star went on to explain that the phrase means to split up with "minimal acrimony."

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Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin used the term to announce their split

"It's a noble idea, and it's a great thing to try to do for your kids." Gwyneth said.

Gwyneth and Chris have two children together; Apple, ten, and eight-year-old Moses. The 42-year-old has previously said that they will always be a family despite the split, and told Howard Stern that they still "laugh and have fun".

"We actually have a really strong friendship and we laugh and have fun," Gwyneth said. "And we're lucky in that our parenting styles and philosophies overlap a lot."

Despite the critics, Gwyneth said she still believes in the idea of conscious uncoupling.

"It's working, but it is a goofy term," she said.