Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin Are Reportedly Engaged After Six Years of Dating

Martin’s ex-wife—and Johnson’s friend—Gwyneth Paltrow is in full support of the impending marriage, too.

Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin
(Image credit: Backgrid)

Are congratulations in order for Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin? It seems so—Page Six is reporting that, after over six years of dating, the couple are engaged, and have received a blessing from Martin’s ex-wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, to boot.

The proposal happened “a while ago,” The Mirror reports: “They have been besotted with each other from day one, so taking this next step was inevitable,” a source told the outlet. “They are in no rush to plan the wedding but are just enjoying making their commitment official.” 

Dakota Johnson and Chris Martin

The couple are reportedly engaged after beginning their relationship in 2017

(Image credit: Backgrid)

Johnson has been all over the headlines this week thanks to a wide-ranging interview with Bustle, including making rare comments about her personal life. Of Martin—who Johnson began dating in 2017—she said that she loves watching him perform onstage with Coldplay, telling the publication “I could watch him every day. I don’t know how to explain it. I feel like, I don’t know…I’m watching my most favorite being do his most favorite thing.” She added that “Watching anyone who’s so good at something is sexy.”

In the same interview, Johnson also touched on being a stepmother to Martin’s kids he shares with Paltrow, daughter Apple and son Moses. “I love those kids like my life depends on it,” Johnson said. “With all my heart.”

Interestingly, Paltrow opened up last night about her own experience being a stepmom to husband Brad Falchuk’s kids from his previous marriage, and how her initially difficult relationship with them has morphed into them being like her own kids; she called the experience “one of my biggest learnings as a human being.” 

Gwyneth Paltrow and Dakota Johnson

Johnson and Paltrow have become close friends over the years

(Image credit: Instagram)

Johnson and Paltrow have a tight bond, and last year Paltrow posted a photo of the two of them holding hands on Instagram while out on what appears to be a chilly walk together, smiling while standing in the middle of a road. “We’re actually very good friends,” Paltrow said of her relationship with Johnson. “I love her so much. She’s an adorable, wonderful person.” As far back as Johnson’s birthday in 2019, Paltrow called her an “absolute gem” and, in addition to sharing a connection through Martin, both are, obviously, well-known actresses as well.

Johnson and Martin briefly split in 2019 after about two years together, Page Six reports, and in 2020 sparked engagement rumors “when she was photographed with a sizeable emerald ring on her left ring finger,” the outlet writes. Though that was a false alarm, it seems that now it’s really happening.

In her Bustle profile, Johnson opened up candidly about not just becoming a stepmom but possibly bearing children herself, telling the outlet of motherhood “I’m so open to that. I’ve gotten to this place where I really want to experience everything that life has to offer. And especially being a woman, I’m like, ‘What a magical f—king thing to do. What a crazy, magical, wild experience.’ If that’s meant to happen for me, I’m totally down for it.” 

Dakota Johnson Madame Web Bottega Veneta bag platform heels red color trend

Johnson opened up this week in a wide-ranging interview, where she discussed motherhood in depth

(Image credit: Raymond Hall/GC Images)

She added, “I’ve been really tripping out recently like, we’re not here for very long. There’s so much to eat up and learn and grow from and experience and feel. That includes all the pain and the suffering and feeling so helpless about the world. Most days I feel like the most useless piece of s—t. I’m sitting in this dumb—s chair, talking about this dumb—s movie, and there are people in excruciating catastrophes, and what can I do? I do have that incredible friction in myself. And then I’m like, ‘We’re not here for very long,’ so if I’m meant to be a mother, bring it on.”

Congratulations to the happy couple and the happily blended family!

Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.