Dakota Johnson always kept her romantic relationships under the radar. But the
situation radically changed since her first links to Chris Martin, a 44-year old Coldplay frontman.
When rumours about their potential engagement started circulating, the couple's life immediately
got in the media spotlight — will Dakota ever call Chris her husband? In today’s video, we’re going
to tell you how Johnson managed to mend the broken heart of Gwyneth Paltrow’s ex-husband.
So what was it about Dakota that made him believe in love again,
and what does Gwyneth Paltrow think about her ex-husband's new romance?
It all started in 2017 when the first news about the emerging star couple flooded the media.
At that time, a 28-year-old Dakota was a single-minded aspiring actress at
the pinnacle of her career. Yet, the romance went under the low profile,
with both Dakota and Chris being unwilling to share details.
However, at Johnson's birthday party in 2019, the couple preferred to stay close together.
One of the insiders later revealed to People details of their tender closeness, "She and
Chris were very affectionate. They walked around the party hand in hand. They were very cute."
Dakota always remained discreet about the dynamics of romantic relationships with Chris.
When asked about their affair, she said once, "I'm not going to talk about it. But I am very happy."
We totally understand her willingness to cherish the connection with Chris and keep things quiet,
especially given his 2014 traumatic divorce.
Do you remember that story? Yeah, that's right — Chris was married
to an Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Their marriage lasted for more than a decade.
But long relationships went downhill as the couple officialized their breakup in 2016.
For Chris and Gwyneth, it was a path of profound emotional growth. The separation didn't bring them
bitterness or jealousy, even though Gwyneth wasn't ready to get divorced back in the day.
Who'd have thought that she would later call Chris her "brother"? What's more, Gwyneth repeatedly
demonstrated her warmth to a new partner of her ex-husbands. In the interview with Harper's
Bazaar, she recently revealed that it's been lovely to have Dakota in her life. She said, "I
can see how it would seem weird because it's sort of unconventional. But I think, in this case, just
having passed through it iteratively, I just adore her." It seems like a fairy-tale attitude, right?
In an honest interview to On Air with Ryan Seacrest, Chris explained his perspective
on the connection with the ex-wife and the continuous evolution of their emotional bonding.
He said, “Just because a romantic relationship ends, doesn’t mean that the other facets of your
relationship have to end … or indeed, doesn’t mean they can’t get better.”
Mature separation opened up new opportunities for Dakota’s significant one,
but it came at a price. The breakup took its toll on the emotional well-being of Chris.
It was challenging for the musician to heal and build a new perspective on the future.
In the documentary A Head Full of Dreams, he shared, “Divorce is terrible, it was very painful,
it was really hard. We really genuinely wanted our kids to be as unscathed as possible.”
Unfortunately, it appeared that the new beginning would never come to Chris.
Describing that daunting period of life, he added, “It was a challenging
period. It was a journey from ultimate loneliness to ultimate togetherness.”
After the painful experience of separation, Chris eventually mended his life. And we believe
that Dakota played a crucial role in his healing. Evidently, the renowned musician considers Johnson
to be one of the most precious personalities in his life. At a concert in London in 2021, he
displayed a gesture of pure affection, dedicating to her a song, “My Universe.” While on the stage,
Chris pointed out to Dakota and addressed the crowd saying that she’s “his universe.”
That was a rare occasion when the singer expressed his passion in public and drew attention to his
relationship with the actress. Given Dakota’s love of music, we can hardly doubt her happiness about
a gesture like this. But we’re still wondering, does this symbolic sign mean something more than
a spontaneous outburst of emotions? Could it mean something deeper and more profound?
Although she is also famous for keeping the details of her love life private,
it is known that Dakota had a couple of long-term relationships with musicians in the past. Starting
from her high school romance with Noah Gersh to an on-and-off affair with the indie-guitarist
and singer Matt Hitt — Dakota didn't lose her interest in being with someone who admired music.
In one of the interviews, the actress stressed the influence of music on her life.
"I grew up having kind of a vast knowledge of music and constantly having it affect me." A tight
emotional bond with music also contributes to her acting career. "When I see films and the music
amplifies the story and you understand more about a character because of a song that is playing,
it's all one to me." Probably, Dakota's fascination with music directs the actress in
her love journeys. It's been five years since she got together with famous musician Chris Martin.
Given this prolonged period, the close emotional connection between Dakota and
Chris didn't go unnoticed by her famous parents. In an interview with People,
Dakota's mother and an Oscar-winning actress Melanie Griffith said, "I love my daughter's
boyfriend. I think that they're an awesome couple." But what about Jonhson's father, Don?
Did he share a warm attitude towards the renowned partner of her daughter? Although he was reluctant
to dwell upon their connection, Don acknowledged an excellent rapport with Chris. "If she's happy,
I will be happy, and he's a lovely guy." While being asked whether his daughter was up for the
marriage, he didn't spill the beans. Don answered - "If she decides to get married, I would imagine
that there would be grandchildren not too far out for that. I'd be pretty excited about that part."
And it seems that Dakota and Chris become closer and closer over time.
Apart from being more open about their connection, they bought a mansion in Malibu
in 2020 and have lived there together ever since. Although we could consider Dakota a
“city girl,” she loved the new lifestyle. As an insider described a couple’s partnership,
“They both love the outdoors and often take beach strolls. They also support local restaurants.”
We can consider it a serious step for a couple that went along so well all these years. What's
more, rumours about their potential engagement stir the water, making fans wonder whether they
will eventually tie the knot. Although these rumours aren't unjustified, it's hard to
prove them right as there is neither an official statement nor public announcement from both sides.
As the audience is waiting for proof of Dakota's intentions to get married,
her romantic life is in the media spotlight. It withstands the test of time so far.
Even a recent series of lockdowns didn't shake things up in a couple's story.
It was especially challenging for the actress to adjust to the new normal. She recently shared her
thoughts about managing depression in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, "You are at home,
you're not with your friends, you're not with your family, you are not able to do the things
that make you feel worthwhile. You're kind of in this costume of depression but not really sure
of why you feel that way." Dakota's experience can relate to lots of people who struggled to maintain
balance during the crisis. But her relationship with depression took its roots in adolescence.
In one of the interviews, she described her mental health challenges,
"I've struggled with depression since I was young—since I was 15 or 14,"
she said. That was when, with the help of professionals, I was like, Oh,
this is a thing I can fall into. But I've learned to find it beautiful because I feel the world."
Dakota and Chris spent a great deal of time together during the lockdown.
The actress recently shared that Squid Game, the Korean survival thriller which went
viral on Netflix in late 2021, is one of the couple's favourite binge-watching TV programs.
Dakota admits being intrigued by the plot twists and the high intensity of the show.
And we guess lovebirds share similar likings. With Dakota's love of music,
it's hardly doubtful that the couple doesn't struggle to build an emotional connection.
The question is, are Dakota and Chris ready to take a step towards their marriage?
Both of them went on a challenging journey to eventually arrive at a happy place like this.
Dakota's struggle with depression and Chris' painful divorce make their stories unique
and precious. And as long as Dakota and Chris are happy with their relationship,
we have no reasons to worry.
But it’s often the case that keeping things under the radar doesn’t save a
couple from struggles and challenges. As the story of Martin and Paltrow showed,
even the tightest marital relationships are prone to breakups. We hope that Dakota and Chris will
cherish love for each other regardless of past adversities. Stay tuned with Rumour Juice to
learn more about their relationship unfolding and don’t forget to subscribe to learn more!