gwyneth paltrow
Credit: Rachel Murray/Getty Images. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 21: Gwyneth Paltrow attends the goop lab Special Screening in Los Angeles, California on January 21, 2020.

When you think of health, Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the first faces that pops to mind. The actress turned entrepreneur was one of the first famous faces to jump on the wellness wagon, making juice cleanses and talking about female pleasure mainstream, and creating a multi-million dollar business—Goop—in the process.

In lockdown, you’d assume Paltrow was one of the rare people who used the opportunity to self-optimise: cook more, learn a language and, of course, do enough online exercise classes to not be petrified of a return to the ‘real world,’ socialising and the anticipated Hot Vax Summer. 

But, it turns out, just like you and me, Paltrow turned to alcohol and carbs to get through the pandemic, admitting she gained 14 pounds (6.3kg) during California’s lockdowns and drank whiskey—albeit quinoa whiskey—every night. 

“I was drinking seven nights a week and making pasta and eating bread. I went totally off the rails,” Paltrow, who usually markets herself as being a beacon of health, told The Mirror.

“I mean, who drinks multiple drinks seven nights a week? Like that’s not healthy. I love whiskey and I make this fantastic drink called the Buster Paltrow, which I named after my grandfather who loved whiskey sours,” she continued. 

The 48-year-old went on to reveal that in true Goop fashion, her whiskey of choice is made of quinoa. “It’s this great quinoa whiskey from this distillery in Tennessee with maple syrup and lemon juice. It’s just heaven,” she explained. “I would have two of those every night of quarantine.”

Paltrow noted that she wasn’t getting “black-out” drunk, but that her at-home cocktails did result in her hankering for cigarettes—a habit she gave up years ago, adding that she still misses smoking.

It appears all it takes is a pandemic to get pre-Goop Paltrow back.