Paltrow: Ross joke was hilarious but family thought it offensive

Last November, the BBC Trust condemned an edition of BBC1's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, in which the host said he would "f***" the actress if his wife permitted.

In an interview with Elle magazine, Paltrow was asked if she found the remark offensive or hilarious.

She replied: "Hilarious to me. Very offensive to my father-in-law."

Paltrow's father-in-law is Anthony Martin, father of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

The actress also said she is wrongly thought to be a "goody two-shoes", adding: "I'm probably less square than people think."

She said: "I never get drunk to the point of throwing up or anything. But I get very warm and talkative."

Paltrow talked of her love of cigarettes, which she has given up.

Her father, Bruce Paltrow, who died in 2002, had been undergoing radiotherapy for oral cancer.

She continued: "Once you have children, if you've witnessed a death like I did with my father, you just can't.

"I'd never want to put them through what I went through. So I don't do it.

"But I've decided that when I'm about 70 I'm going to start smoking again."

Paltrow also spoke up for her friends Madonna and Lily Allen.

She said of Madonna: "She's the most ambitious person I know. Very driven.

"The hardest worker I've ever seen. But she does everything with a pure intention."

Paltrow has made two films produced by Allen's mother, Alison Owen.

She said of 23-year-old Allen and the negative publicity she receives: "Lily is not a women yet.

"She'll be OK because she's a smart girl, and very talented.

"But this is a big test to get when you're her age. But in a way, if it makes her go in a good direction, what a blessing.

"Think about all the c*** she's got out of the way."

Speaking about her fashionable new look of recent years, Paltrow said: "I just got out of sweatpants, out of mummy mode.

"I love fashion, but when you're breastfeeding and you're a stone-and-a-half overweight, it's demoralising to try to wear good clothes."

She talked about criticism she received after wearing an outfit made by friend Stella McCartney.

Paltrow said: "I read something horrible about the Stella dress. But probably people don't realise, sometimes you wear a dress because your friend made it...

"I always wanna wear her stuff 'cos it's good for her, you know?"

Speaking about her relationship with the Coldplay singer, Paltrow said: "It doesn't behove us to be a public couple.

"He certainly doesn't want to be that. So it's just better if we don't - I mean, we've never ever walked down a red carpet together, we never will.

"If people think that that means we're not together, then - ha ha ha! - so be it."

* Paltrow's full interview is in the March edition of Elle UK, out tomorrow.