One in five British adults were surprised by Paltrow and Martin’s recent break-up, nearly twice the number surprised by Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt’s 2005 split

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin will be separating after 11 years of marriage – but don’t call it a break-up. On Tuesday he couple announced were calling it quits on Ms Paltrow’s lifestyle website, Goop, but described it as a “conscious uncoupling”. During their marriage the pair fastidiously avoided the limelight and rarely appearing before photographers together, suggesting the relationship might at least avoid death-by-tabloid and making the eventual break-up all the more unexpected. But is the split the most unexpected in recent memory?

It seems so: 20% of British people were surprised by the Paltrow-Martin breakup, making it the most surprising celebrity break-up of the 17 listed in a recent YouGov poll. In comparison, only 11% recall being surprised by the separation of Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt. 9% were alo surprised when the royal marriage of Prince Charles and Princess Diana fell apart.

Some celebrity splits did not raise so many eyebrows. For instance, the break-ups between Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, and Rihanna and Chris Brown all failed to surprise more than 1% of British adults.

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Image: Getty

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