Coldplay singer Chris Martin urged celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to give his wife Gwyneth Paltrow a cooking lesson to fine-tune her skills in the kitchen.

The Shakespeare in Love actress has penned several cookery books since marrying the British rocker, but he is convinced she could do with some professional tips so he enlisted his pal Oliver to help.

The chef tells Britain's Daily Star newspaper, "I know Gwyneth because her husband Chris rang and asked if I'd give her a cookery lesson for her birthday. I'm a big Coldplay fan, and Gwyneth's a lovely woman, so it was a done deal.

"I spent the afternoon cooking in her kitchen, we made a slow roasted duck ragu and then a bunch of her friends came around to eat it."