Gwyneth Paltrow feels ‘incredible sadness’ about becoming an empty nester: ‘Deep sense of impending grief’

Gwyneth Paltrow is scared about the next chapter of her life.

The Goop founder, 51, candidly shared in a new interview that she feels “incredible sadness” over her son, Moses, leaving for college in the fall. Her stepson, Brody, also will be moving away for school.

“It’ll be interesting to see how the morning routine changes with no kids in the house,” she told the Sunday Times.

Gwyneth Paltrow spoke candidly about becoming an empty nester. The actress has two children, Apple, 19, and Moses, 17. She and her husband, Brad Falchuk, both have boys moving to college in the fall. gywnethpaltrow/Instagram

Paltrow admitted she has “a deep sense of impending grief” thinking about becoming an empty nester, as her daughter, Apple, is already a college student.

“On the other hand, this is exactly what should be happening,” she acknowledged.

“Your kids are supposed to be, you know, young adults who can achieve and cope and make connections and be resilient. That’s exactly what you want. And that means they leave the house.”

“Your kids are supposed to be, you know, young adults who can achieve and cope and make connections and be resilient,” Paltrow said. @gwynethpaltrow The Goop founder expressed that she feels “incredible sadness.” gwynethpaltrow/Instagram The ‘Iron Man’ actress shares her children with ex-husband Chris Martin, who is engaged to Dakota Johnson. gwynethpaltrow/Instagram

The Oscar winner, who shares Apple, 19, and Moses, 17, with her ex-husband, Chris Martin, gushed that motherhood has both “defined” and “fulfilled” her.

“It’s like the guiding force. It’s what I return to,” she told the London newspaper. “I observe a lot of my friends who’ve had kids who’ve gone off to college. Your kid … it changes. And, you know, they come home a lot and all that stuff, but it’s not quite the same as living under the same roof all the days of the year. So I’m just trying to be open to what that means.”

Paltrow and Martin, 47, were married from 2003 to 2016. She wed Falchuk, 53, in 2018.