Female First is reporting that Coldplay frontman Chris Martin gave some recent interviews in which he’s said that he watches his weight. The 31 year-old singer revealed that he’s been more conscious of his weight after Primal Scream bassist Mani warned him not to get fat in advance of the release of his band’s latest CD. Martin made the comment hopefully in jest that “I couldn’t possibly write a hit record when I’ve got a beer belly”

The Coldplay frontman revealed the whole band has been forced to swap tasty “baked goods” for salads after they piled on the pounds while working on their new album ‘Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends’.
Chris said: “It happens whenever we have some downtime, usually between albums. We get very hairy and kind of morph into Bill Oddie (British TV presenter) - we have stacked on the weight.”

The singer revealed he decided to do something about his weight after receiving weight loss advice from an unusual source - Primal Scream bassist Mani.

Chris added to Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper: “Mani was eating a sandwich and I asked him what was in it. He told me it was salad and that I should eat the same. Mani warned us that nobody wants a fat pop star.”

He told Britain’s The Sun newspaper: “I feel like you’ve got to write as many songs as you can between the ages of 28 and 33 because those are your last few years before you get a belly.

“I couldn’t possibly write a hit record when I’ve got a beer belly, so we’re just going to try to write as many songs as possible before that D-Day, or B-Day it should be - for Belly Day.”

Chris has now banned calorific club sandwiches from their catering menu while they are on tour promoting their new album.
A source said: “They love club sandwiches and know they would be tempted to eat quite a few if they were available.”

[From Female First via Gossip Rocks]

He’s making a joke about not being able to put out good music if he gains a few pounds. That statement can be construed as insulting to about half the population in some parts of the world though. Martin’s statements remind me of Madonna saying “I would never get fat” as she works out obsessively to shave every possible millimeter of flesh from her tiny frame. It’s not the worse thing in the world, and your career won’t suffer due to weight gain in most cases.

Unfortunately these musicians and actors are probably right that gaining 15 pounds would have a negative impact on their earning potential. As a man Martin has less to worry about, but female singers have their weight scrutinized constantly, and actresses have to stay thin or they’ll often be passed up for parts. At the very least they’ll get plastered all over the tabloids in the “worst bikini bodies” issues. I would like to see more average-sized actors, actresses and musicians, and I hope that Hollywood eventually loosens their unrealistic standards of body perfection. In the mean time you have skinny musicians like Martin saying they wouldn’t be successful if they gained weight. He’s probably joking but it does have a ring of truth to it.

Chris Martin is shown performing on the Today Show on 6/27/08. Credit: Anthony Dixon / WENN.

Coldplay’s fourth album, “Viva La Vida” premiered at number one on the Billboard chart and is getting high praise from critics and fans. The band was on The Today Show this morning and performed for a huge crowd.

Chris Martin: “Ryan Seacrest designed our outfits”
When asked by Ann Curry how they achieved such success, lead singer Chris Martin quipped “Well, we took on a big team of financial advisers and marketers and stylists and Ryan Seacrest designed our outfits… No no what we tried to do is make everything as homemade as possible.”

Drummer Will Champion “It’s a nice gesture” to give away music
Meredith Viera asked why they started giving away their music and doing free concerts and drummer Will Champion explained “We’d been away for a while and we didn’t expect anyone to have to pay for our music without any encouragement, so we think it’s a nice gesture. ‘Here you go, have it for free.’”

Ann asked “Guy, you said it was the boldest and most confident record you’ve done. Would you say that?” [hands mike to guitarist Johnny Buckland]

Johnny got a little nervous, and said “Yeah, I dunno… We just had a great time in the studio recording it. We worked with incredible people… Brian Eno, who’s our hero.”

Bass player Guy Berryman added “I don’t think it really sounds like our last three records… there’s going to be a few surprises.” [audience screams when Guy starts talking]

Chris Martin: everyone wants to see our “handsome bass player”
Chris Martin joked “Most of the audience comes to see our handsome bass player, Guy. The music is secondary.”

Anne Curry concluded that “There’s something real authentic on this album and it reaches out deep into all of us.”

Here are the videos. The music starts in the first video at 2:40, and Chris Martin has a rough start and laughs during “Viva La Vida,” saying “I messed up the beginning but that’s ok.”

Interview and “Viva La Vida”

“Clocks”

“Lost”

“In My Place”

“42″

Thanks to WENN for these photos, many of which were taken during the live rehearsals.

Chris Martin got a good deal of bad press last week after he walked out of an interview on BBC’s Radio 4. The interviewer had stuck to Martin’s rule about not asking personal questions – especially concerning his famous wife, Gwyneth Paltrow. Yet Martin bolted anyway. Celebitchy thinks he probably regretted being so candid in a Rolling Stone interview he did right before then. It must have left him quite on edge. In the Rolling Stone interview, Martin admitted that he hasn’t exactly been a legendary romancer of women.

“I’ve only been in one serious relationship,” says Martin.

And you guessed it. It’s with Gwyneth Paltrow.

“…This is the only one. Is that weird? I don’t think it’s that weird. It wouldn’t be weird 200 years ago.”

[From Cover Awards]

I don’t think that’s weird in and of itself, it’s just very unusual for a famous musician. Coldplay doesn’t have groupies? Or they didn’t back in the day when Martin was single? I could jump on the “bash Coldplay to death” bandwagon right now, but I’ll refrain. But I actually think that’s pretty sweet. No wonder Martin has admitted to feeling jealous of Paltrow’s ex, Brad Pitt.

Martin also gave his thoughts on the upcoming presidential election, and his hopes for Barack Obama.

[Rolling Stone]: Do you see any reason for hope?
[Chris Martin]: As soon as Barack Obama becomes president, people will be a bit more optimistic. If Obama was to be president, it would immediately change the whole outside world’s opinion of America overnight. America’s public image at the moment is really bad. And it’s a bummer, because over half of Americans are the coolest people on the planet. But they’ve been so misrepresented.

[Rolling Stone]: Do you think he can win?
[Chris Martin]: I do. But I think that, really, the fair thing would be, in electing the American president, to let everyone in the world vote, because it affects all of us. If there was a world vote, there’s no question who would win. No question. Of course, Barack Obama is human like the rest of us. He’s going to fuck up. But I’m just trying to look on the bright side. What’s the point of being negative? Where does that get us? It gets you your own radio chat show, but it doesn’t really do anything for the world.

[From Rolling Stone]

I’d never really thought about it in those terms, but I like his point that the whole world should get to vote for the US president. I don’t think I’d want it to happen, but the idea makes a lot of sense conceptually.

The next five months are going to be filled with celebrity comments on politics. Between the economy and all the natural disasters that have happened lately, it feels like everything’s going to hell in a hand basket. It’s nice to hear a bit about the good of staying optimistic. Even if the only reason is what Martin noted: “What’s the point of being negative?”

Here are Chris Martin and Guy Berryman of Coldplay performing a free concert at the BBC Television Centre in London yesterday. Images thanks to WENN.

Chris Martin is a rather uppity fellow. The Coldplay frontman has long had a rule that he won’t discuss his wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, or their kids. Yet during a recent interview with the BBC’s Radio 4, he walked off the show when asked a question he didn’t like – which had absolutely nothing to do with his family.

It’s tough at the top. The new Coldplay album may be steaming towards number one but the pressure is telling on Chris Martin. The notoriously highly-strung frontman always makes clear he will not discuss his famous wife - Gwyneth Paltrow - or their children. However, when lobbed a straightforward question on the inspiration for Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends on Radio 4, the singer lost the plot.

‘Did you start with the song Viva La Vida and the idea within that song of the disposed dictator looking back at his life?’ asked John Wilson, the Front Row presenter.

To which Martin replied: ‘I’m not enjoying this. Can I have two minutes?’ and walked out of the studio.

The presenter pressed him for more. ‘Are you feeling under pressure?’ The singer replied: ‘I just don’t like talking about things.’ The interview continued with Will Champion, the band’s drummer, who insisted his colleague was not upset. But when Martin returned, he refused to give full answers and little more light was shed.

[From the Daily Mail]

Martin did break his rule and give an in-depth interview to Rolling Stone recently, in which he admitted that he felt competitive with Brad Pitt, Paltrow’s former fiancé . And really, who could blame the guy? Perhaps he regrets divulging anything personal and has become even more introverted.

While I understand that some people “just don’t like talking about things,” you probably shouldn’t go on a show to be interviewed if that’s the case. The question Martin was asked was not only not personal, but it was a really well thought out, introspective question. I’d imagine it was one of the better ones bands get, and you’d think someone passionate about his music would be eager to answer it.

If we all got to walk out whenever we were “just not enjoying” things, no one would get anything done. Martin’s behavior sounds incredibly immature, over dramatic, and completely uncalled for.

Here’s Chris Martin leaving the BBC Radio One studios in London yesterday. Images thanks to WENN.

Some people have a weird way of measuring their success. While most of us would use money or happiness, Chris Martin uses karaoke.

He apparently said: “I’m really determined that there should be more Coldplay songs in karaoke bars. I’ve been into them and you open the lyrics book and there are a million Beatles songs. There’s dozens of ABBA, Culture Club and even Bucks Fizz, but Coldplay? There will be two or at most three.”

But Martin has a solution: “If we could just get eight in every bar worldwide I’d be happy. I would know we’ve made it. I think there are three karaoke possibilities on ‘Viva La Vida’. It surely has to be the ultimate measure of success.”

NME

Chris, if it makes you feel better I once had a car named after you. It was yellow. It was also a pile of crap. It was also back in the day when people didn’t know who you were, and your lovely wife Gwyneth Paltrow was going to marry Brad Pitt.

I had completely forgotten that she was once engaged to the man-half of Brangelina, and for the first time Chris has spoken about what it is like to be married to a woman who used to date Brad Pitt:

Despite it all, Martin can’t stop feeling like an underdog. “You’ve got to be hungry,” he says. “If your wife went out with Brad Pitt, you’d want to prove yourself, you know what I mean?”

Rolling Stone

I think if you really thought about the fact that your wife once bedded the sexiest man alive (back when he was in his prime), it could really bother you. You might wonder how you shape up next to that shirtless wonder.

Then you’d have to get one of the world’s biggest ego boosts – my wife could have married the sexiest man alive, but she chose me.

Gwyneth Paltrow has denied that she snubbed a party held in her honor – but it seems that’s exactly what she did. Producers of her most recent film Iron Man had planned a big bash costing over $120,000 in Gwyneth’s honor – to thank her for her hard work on the film’s “grueling” promotion schedule. It was held after the film’s premiere in London.

Thirty of Gwyneth’s closest friends and family came to attend the swanky dinner at Cocoon restaurant – but Gwyneth never showed up. They had even arranged for a special entrance for Paltrow and husband Chris Martin, so that they wouldn’t be photographed together – one of Gwyneth’s many strict rules.

Hollywood moguls spared no expense when they threw an extravagant party in honour of their hard-working star Gwyneth Paltrow last week. They lavished about £60,000 on the private celebration at an exclusive London restaurant, inviting 30 of her closest friends and family and providing the finest champagne and cocktails, just as she’d requested.

But the studio chiefs were left disappointed when the actress failed to turn up – choosing at the last minute to go for dinner elsewhere. Instead they went for an impromptu meal with Robert Downey Jnr, Paltrow’s co-star in the new Iron Man blockbuster, and his producer wife, Susan Levin. The decision left some of Paramount Pictures’ most powerful executives making small-talk with fellow guests, including 31-year-old Mr Martin’s parents, without Miss Paltrow.

“A lot of thought and money had gone into the party. Gwyneth had specifically asked for chilled bottles of Perrier Jouet champagne and some vodka cocktails to get the party going. Everything was in place and had been arranged around her.

[From the Daily Mail]

Gwyneth’s excuse is even lovelier – she’s claiming she never agreed to attend. Yet you would think she’d inform her friends and in-laws of that fact well ahead of time. Which makes you think that she really did stand them up. The Daily Mail says she called just minutes before she was supposed to show up and canceled instead – leaving director, Jon Favreau trying to entertain Chris Martin’s parents and siblings, along with a host of other people all there just for Gwyneth.

Miss Paltrow’s spokesman said last night: “Gwyneth was never meant to attend the after party. She was at the taping of the Jonathan Ross show which ran late and then she went home to be with her children. Everyone was told weeks ago that she would not be attending. She has said many times that she deliberately does not make public appearances with her husband.”

[From the Daily Mail]

Well that sure sounds like an all-out lie. One would assume that if Gwyneth said she wasn’t coming to the party weeks ago, the studio wouldn’t have thrown the bash in her honor. And her in-laws and friends wouldn’t have made the trek from the all over England to come and celebrate with her. It seems likely that the mistake (and poor manners ) was probably Paltrow’s – not the thirty people who still came to congratulate her.

Here’s Gwyneth at the Iron Man premiere in London on what appears to be a very windy April 24th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Rumors of a troubled marriage have dogged Gwyneth Paltrow and husband Chris Martin pretty much since they walked out of the church together. Perhaps it’s her quiet, slightly frigid nature or the way they each generally refuse to talk about each other, but they’ve often been the subject of a lot of marital speculation. Which is funny because the speculation seems to vacillate between “They’re breaking up and they hate each other!” to “They’re having another baby!” over and over again. When Us Weekly cornered Paltrow’s mother Blythe Danner at a movie premiere on Tuesday (okay I have no evidence that they actually cornered her, but that’s the only reason I can think of for a mother randomly spouting off about the state of her daughter’s marriage) she denied that there was any trouble in Gwyneth and Chris’ happy marriage.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are happily married, thank you very much. Paltrow’s mother, actress Blythe Danner, has slammed blog reports that the couple’s 4-year marriage is on the rocks. “Good god, it’s just so tragic that people have to make up stuff,” she told Usmagazine.com at the NYC screening of The Visitor on Tuesday. “I’ve never seen two happier parents — or people — so I don’t get it.”

Daughter Apple turns 4 in May; son Moses is about to be 2. (Click here to see how Paltrow and other stars bundled up their kids for winter.) “They’re pretty fabulous,” she said of her grandchildren. “Yesterday my little grandson says, ‘Don’t go! Don’t go!’ You just don’t get that kind of love from everybody.”

As for reports that Paltrow (who stars in May’s Iron Man) plans on quitting the business, Danner insisted, “She very much wants to go back to work. “She didn’t set out to be a movie star — she set out to be a wonderful actress,” she adds. “But motherhood is very important to her, as it was to me, and I think she’s finding balance.”

[From Us Weekly]

Awww, that’s kinda sweet. Not sure if I believe it, but it’s nice that Blythe Danner at least tries to cover up for her daughter’s frigidness. That’s probably not fair to say, but ever since Ted Casablanca at E! started calling Paltrow Fish Stick years and years ago, it’s really hard to see her any other way. The moniker is so funny and fits so well… and when I think about those fish sticks I used to eat as a kid, I’m pretty sure they would look like Gwyneth Paltrow should they ever come alive and take human form. There’s definitely no denying that Gwyneth is a devoted mom – she clearly lights up whenever she’s around her kids. As much as we like to speculate that there’s trouble, it’s almost as nice to hear that things are chugging along just fine.

Here are some older pics of Gwyneth with Moses. I’ll say this for the rumors - it’s damn near impossible to find many pictures of Gwyneth and Chris together.

Gwyneth Paltrow really must not be pregnant, despite her hospitalization in a Manhattan maternity ward a few weeks ago. Gwynnie is trying to start a whole new celebrity adoption trend – Brooklyn babies! Well, stateside babies at least. Gwyneth has said that she and husband Chris Martin are considering adoption from her home state of New York.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are considering adopting an orphan from the actress’ hometown of New York. Amid reports the Oscar winner is pregnant with the couple’s third child, Paltrow insists she’s keen to follow in the footsteps of pal Madonna and adopt.

She tells the New York Daily News, “We might get one from Brooklyn. No baby is more helpless than another baby. And I’m a New York girl.”

Paltrow also plays down her recent hospitalization for a ‘gastrointestinal situation’ insisting she is fully recovered. She adds, “I feel great - people made a big deal about nothing.”

[From Starpulse]

Gwyneth, I live in Brooklyn. And I can be remarkably immature. I refused to learn to tie my own shoes until I was eight, AND I was also a thumb sucker until the age of nine - and I am happy to take the habit up again if it increases the likelihood that you’ll find me adorable and want to adopt me. I fit 95% of your qualifications right there. I’m curious to hear what our readers think of Gwyneth wanting to adopt an American baby. She might be talking about adoption just to get people to stop speculating about whether or not she’s pregnant. She’s not exactly a “local girl” anymore, what with the living in London and the occasional fake British accent. Either way, she could certainly provide a nice life for a child, filled with lots of trips to Madonna’s house and macrobiotic food. What kid wouldn’t want that?

Here’s Gwyneth at Madonna’s Kabbalah… er, I mean Malawi/UNICEF benefit on February 6th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Gwyneth Paltrow was admitted to New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital late Monday night with what media outlets were calling a “mystery illness.” Her publicist refused to comment, saying only the Gwyneth was now find and resting at home. The Huffington Post reported that Gwyneth was doing a five day fast from Organic Avenue, and she did indeed have their food delivered to her room. However Rush & Malloy are reporting that Gwyneth is in fact pregnant, as she was on the hospital’s maternity ward.

Did a pregnancy complication put Gwyneth Paltrow in the hospital? Husband Chris Martin was seen pushing the Oscar winner into Mount Sinai Medical Center here Monday. “They looked very serious,” a witness tells us. “She looked upset. They went right past everyone and into the elevator. It seemed like they were expected.”

Paltrow’s rep, Stephen Huvane, declined to discuss what was wrong with the actress, who last year underwent knee surgery. “She’s fine,” said Huvane, adding that Paltrow had returned home. But our spy did report that Martin and Paltrow entered Mount Sinai’s maternity wing, the Klingenstein Pavilion.

Last August, Paltrow, 35, told an interviewer she and Martin wanted to expand their family, which now has daughter Apple, 3, and son Moses, 1. While Martin wanted to adopt, she said she was open to having “two [babies] in a row, really quick again.”

Huvane called speculation about a troubled pregnancy “guesswork at best. This is a private matter not for public consumption.”

[From Rush & Malloy]

You’ll note that the rep didn’t actually deny that Paltrow is pregnant, just that everyone was speculating about it. I’m guessing that perhaps Gwyneth was pregnant and lost the baby. Again, total speculation, but considering Huvane didn’t refute the pregnancy rumors, but instead chose to nitpick at them, it makes me wonder what was actually going on. The Huffington Post found out that Gwyneth was doing Organic Avenue’s fast by simply calling the store and asking an employee what she had delivered. I’m surprised the employee just gave it up, but the Huffington Post is pretty accurate, and the reporter’s story seems credible. I would seriously hope that Gwyneth was never pregnant and the reports of her being on the maternity ward are inaccurate, because it would be terribly irresponsible for a pregnant woman to be on a fast. Either way, let’s hope she gets better soon.

Update: Commentors Diva, Beanie and Minx note that Gwyneth’s husband Chris Martin lashed out at a photographer outside the hospital in a video available on TMZ. Chris went off on the photographer after he said “congratulations” and the general consensus is that it is likely that Gwyneth suffered a miscarriage. That’s incredibly sad and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

While most celebrities claim to hate gossip and say they never visit celebrity websites or read anything in the papers, a few will admit to what we suspect a lot of them suffer from: a gossip addiction, just like the rest of us. Last fall Kanye West said he was a big fan of our friends Bossip, and then started his own blog a few days later. Now even ice queen Gwyneth Paltrow has admitted she follows the tabloids and is just as addicted as the rest of us.

“There’s obviously an appetite for gossip,” she told Britain’s Daily Mail Weekend Magazine. “It’s very addictive to see what people are doing and wearing and saying – and who is breaking up.”

The actress went on to describe the outrage of an unnamed friend who had been dating another celebrity and read an inaccurate item about the romance in a New York tabloid.

“Then he turned the page of the same newspaper and said, ‘My God, have you seen who’s together?’” she told the magazine. “So we’re all at it, aren’t we?”

[From People]

Gwyneth has been the subject of a good deal of gossip over the years, and not just for her ice queeny nature. She’s not often photographed with her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, leading many to speculate that their marriage is in trouble. But Gwyneth reassures us all is okay – it’s just that she doesn’t like to be seen with her husband in public. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t consider that a sign of the most healthy relationship. Paltrow also says she wants to have two more children in rapid succession a few years down the line.

But Paltrow, 35, is quick to quash rumors of any trouble in her marriage to Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Although they are rarely photographed out and about, she explained, “We’re not into doing stuff in public together.”

Away from the cameras though, she insisted, it’s a different story.

“I love the house,” Paltrow said of the North London home the couple bought from fellow actress Kate Winslet and her husband, director Sam Mendes. Paltrow – mother to daughter Apple, 3, and son Moses, 1 – also admitted she’s thinking of expanding her family. In four years, she dreams of having “two-in-a-row, really quick again,” while Martin would like to adopt.

So which will it be? The actress, who recently finished filming The Good Night with her brother Jake, told the Mail, “I’m open to anything.”

[From People]

What a free-flowing, easy spirit you are Gwyneth Paltrow. You never change, just like your hair. Gwyneth claims her marriage is in good working order, and it very well may be. People have been speculating for years that there’s trouble, and yet the two have remained together. For some odd reason, it may very well be that she doesn’t like to be seen in public with Martin much. Maybe she thinks it keeps photographers away? I’d speculate that it makes them follower her more, and makes gossips speculate negatively about her. Maybe she should lighten up, if for no other reason than to show her kids that daddy’s not a pariah.

Picture note by Jaybird: Okay even I have to admit that these photos are way too adorable. Here’s Gwyneth playing with Moses in Barcelona on October 24th. Images thanks to PR Photos.