Almost a year after Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin told the world they are "consciously uncoupling," the "Iron Man" star revealed that her relationship with the Coldplay frontman fell apart years before announcing their split.

According to E! Online, the Hollywood star spilled the beans to Marie Claire Australia where she admitted that being friends with her estranged husband is real hard work, and she feels that the bond that they have is what they're meant to have.

"We've worked really f--king hard to get to [this] point," Paltrow said. "But we're very, very close, and it's so nice. I feel like it's, in a way, the relationship we were meant to have."

The GOOP founder told the magazine that she and the British singer started parting ways back in 2012 when she was shooting "Mortdecai" with pal Johnny Depp whom she asked for advice. Daily Mail noted that during that time, the actor also split from his long-term partner Vanessa Paradis.

"Nobody knew what Chris and I had been going through, so I didn't say, 'Hey, this is what's happening,' but I did ask him mostly children-centric questions, like, 'How is it on them?' and 'How did you do it?'" Paltrow told the mag as reported by E! "It's very sad. You have an expectation of your life, and it's sad to change that expectation."

In an interview for the February 2015 issue of Harper's Bazaar UK, Gwyneth Paltrow spoke about the idea of the current set-up with Chris Martin after their split. She said it is something that's working for the two of them.

"Of course, there are times when I think it would have been better if we had stayed married, which is always what your children want," she said. "But we have been able to solidify this friendship, so that we're really close. It's painful, it's difficult, it might be easier to say, 'I never want to see you again,' but what good does that do anyone? We've made a lot of mistakes, and we've had good days and bad days, but I have to say, I'm proud of us for working through so much stuff together-and not blaming and shaming."

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin had a very amicable realtionship after the split.