Gwyneth Paltrow reflects on 'one regret' about step-parenting journey

Gwyneth Paltrow has opened up about her "one regret" over her journey as a step-parent.

The actress/entrepreneur shares daughter Apple, 18, and son Moses, 16, with her ex-husband Chris Martin, and became a step-mother to Isabella, 18, and Brody, 16, when she wed Brad Falchuk in 2018.

Reflecting on the process of becoming a blended family during a discussion with Brad for her Goop podcast, Gwyneth reflected on what she wishes she had done at the start of their relationship.

"There's just no playbook for how to do it... I think there's this like archetypal evil stepmother and this inference that it's going to be this fraught thing, so I came into it on tenterhooks like, 'Oh my gosh, you can only kind of do the wrong thing,'" she explained.

Gwyneth went on to note that the "trepidation" she experienced is now her "one regret".

"However many years ago I was like, 'F**k it, these are my kids. I love them. I'm not gonna like be scared to discipline them or draw the boundary.' If someone asked me for advice on it, I would just say from day one, just really treat them as your kid," the 50-year-old continued. "Be your full self as a parent, with all the love and all the acceptance. And all the boundaries. I just wish I had done that earlier."

Elsewhere in the conversation, Gwyneth revealed she was having a hard time with Apple leaving home to attend college, and Brad asked if she was experiencing "postpartum depression".

"It's kind of like that, there's something about her leaving, because you are so close, that's it's sort of like her leaving your body. It felt like there's something hardcore going on there. But you're doing great," the 51-year-old praised, to which Gwyneth exclaimed: "It's hard, I miss her!"