Stepkids rebel: Why Gwyneth’s not popular at home
They can’t stand her wacky rules
When Gwyneth Paltrow admitted that she and hubby Brad Falchuk didn’t live together during their first year of marriage, many fans and even friends thought it sounded a little strange. But she insisted they kept separate homes to give their children “a little space and no not to move too quickly”. How However, since the TV producer and his teenagers, Brody and Isabella Isabella, moved in with Gywneth and he her kids Apple and Moses in Sept September, things have gone downhi downhill quickly – and Brad’s brood are kee keen for more “space” away from th their intense stepmum. “Isab “Isabella and Brody have begged their dad not to make them stay there,” claims a sou source. “They only spend a f few nights a week at her ho house, but they want it to be le less. They dread going over t there.”
Part of the reason for their aversion is Gwyneth’s lack of boundaries. “One of her rules is, she talks to Brad’s kids like they’re adults, not teenagers – it’s how she’s raising her own children. She talks about things like sex and relationships, hoping to keep the communication lines open and honest, but it’s super awkward for them. They’d rather not hear it.”
To make matters worse, the Goop founder is meticulous about her living space. She even goes so far as to organise every object in her pantry and playroom according to “colour, size and purpose”, and hires a “book curator” to beautify her home library. That exhaustive level of neat-freakery has the teens feeling uncomfortable in their dad’s new home, tells the source.
“Gwyneth can’t handle a single thing being out of place. She doesn’t even like it if there’s a crumb on the kitchen counter,” the insider says. “But Brody and Isabella weren’t brought up like that at all. No one’s blaming her for wanting a clean house, but Brad’s kids think it’s extreme.”
She’s also controlling about the kinds of food the teens can eat in the house. “Gwyneth is vegan and has asked them not to bring meat into her kitchen. If she even smells chicken, she says she feels sick. She doesn’t allow fast food either. Gwyn’s own kids are used to it – she put them on a macrobiotic diet when they were little – but Brody and Isabella find it agonising.”
Brad, 48, hasn’t yet told Gwyneth, 47, quite how hard living in her house has been for his kids. “She’d be hurt if she knew. She has the best intentions when it comes to them, but she does tend to micromanage and it’s a lot to handle.”