Coldplay rocker Chris Martin has admitted he still cannot deal with the fact that wife Gwyneth Paltrow used to be engaged to Brad Pitt.

Despite having two children with Gwyneth, Chris admits her superstar ex still plays on his mind - and drives him to make a success of his life.

"You've got to be hungry," Chris told U.S. rock magazine Rolling Stone in an interview in which he also admitted to having "a bit of a sleeping-pill habit".

Superstar ex: Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow dated for two and a half years and were briefly engaged before splitting in 1997

"If your wife went out with Brad Pitt, you'd want to prove yourself, you know what I mean?"

Chris insists his wife is the only woman he has ever had a serious relationship with.

And he admits that growing up he worried about being gay.

"It was more like, 'Oh s***, what if?', because I was brought up to think it was wrong," he told Rolling Stone.

"But then it struck me: who gives a s**t? And then it wasn't a problem.

The Coldplay star, pictured with Gwyneth, says his wife's high profile ex drives him to make a success of his life

"It sounds silly to say it now, but when you're a kid you think, 'I'm going to burn in hell for eternity if I like other guys or if I marry someone Jewish'."

But he eventually calmed down when he realized he was heterosexual.

"I was swayed by boobs," he says. "Let's face it, they're fantastic."

Even so, it was not until he was 22 that he finally lost his virginity.

"There were religious issues and s**t like that," he says, adding: "Also confidence. I had a tricky time with girls.

"I got trapped in the friendship tip many, many times.

"I don't want to be the person that makes everyone laugh before they go off and bang.

Happy family: Chris and Gwyneth with their two children Apple and Moses

"I want to be the guy that everybody bangs." He says that was the key driving force in his career course.

"I was like, 'I need to be a rock star'," he says.

"Why the hell else would I waste my time doing it?"

Gwyneth, he insists, is his only true love.

"I've only been in one serious relationship," he said.  "Is that weird? I don't think it's that weird."

Despite getting into a band to impress women and suffering a severe backlash from critics Martin insists he adores his job.

"Are you kidding? I f***ing die for it," he said.

"I just can't believe I've got it."