Mario Batali: Gwyneth Split Rumors "Not True"

Chef Mario Batali is shooting down rumors that Gwyneth Paltrow and hubby Chris Martin are on the rocks.

At the Food Bank's Lunchbox Auction held Thursday at Milk Studios in NYC, Batali, who earlier this year filmed Spain... On the Road Again with Gwyneth, called the split rumors, "Not true. I see them all the time. I don't think they're having problems."

The Oscar winning actress, 36, and the Coldplay frontman, 31, celebrated their five-year anniversary on December 5, and Mario believes proof of their enduring bond is in their children Apple, 4, and Moses, 2.

"If you meet their kids, their kids are cool," Batali says. "And their kids have the fascination with new and open-eyed experiences. They're delightful. Which means they're being taken care of at home by their parents. That's the key. They're really stay-at-home parents in a way that only rock stars and Academy Award winning actors can be. They've got a time to choose when they work, and they don't have to work all the time."

But other attendees aren't so forthcoming when it comes to the couple's relationship.

Salman Rushdie celebrated Thanksgiving this year in London with Gwyneth, Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal. When asked what's going on with Gwyneth and Chris, he said, "Do you think I'll tell you? I don't know anything. Well, are the rumors true? Don't ask me," he says.

The four-times married author is in the process of divorcing actress Padma Lakshmi. So what's his advice for getting through a break-up?

"It's horrible, and then it stops," he says.

By Valerie Nome