Gwyneth Paltrow is thankful for false speculation about her and Chris Martin - because it led to them getting together.

The 40-year-old star - who has been married to the Coldplay frontman since 2003 - says the couple had never met when there were rumours they had started dating in 2002, but following the speculation they met up and immediately fell for each other.

Gwyneth - who has daughter Apple, eight, and seven-year-old son Moses with Chris - said: "It's funny because people had started writing that we were going out and we had never even met.

"And then he was in Los Angeles doing a concert and an actress that he had a crush on was supposed to come to the concert. When she didn't show up, he was so annoyed that he said, 'Oh, this is for my girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow.'

"Then people were saying, 'What's going on?' I was like, 'I've never met this guy, I've no idea!'

"And because of that, because people were writing about it, we ended up meeting at a concert and there you go. So, thank you!"

The couple first met at a Coldplay gig in London, where Chris, 36, made the first move by getting his assistant to ask the 'Iron Man 3' star to come to his dressing room after the concert.

She explained: "Because they had written so much in the press, his assistant came to my seat at the concert.

"They said, 'This is so crazy, but will you come back and say hello afterwards?' And that was it."

Despite the couple's busy showbiz lifestyles, Gwyneth admits she and Chris try to keep Apple and Moses "very grounded" by making sure they don't disrupt their schooling too much.

In an interview in The Sun newspaper: "We have a very normal life and a very regular routine. They travel with us sometimes, but we tend to be home when there is school.

"We try not to have them miss school and they have their routine, their friends and their life, so they are very grounded."