He Said...

Guy Ritchie has branded his seven-and-a-half year marriage to Madonna a "circus" and has admitted that the pressure of being married to one of the world's most famous pop stars just became too great.The film-maker has told of how it was impossible to have a normal family life with the singer who, he says, is obsessed with her public image.According to the Mirror, Ritchie, 40, said: "I just wanted a regular husband and wife thing. But it was always a great song and dance just to do ordinary stuff."She's obsessed with her own public image, obsessed with being seen as some kind of global soothsayer. "It's silly, she's a pop star. And some of the advisors around her, some of whom have gone, made it impossible for us to have a semblance of a normal life."I want to be able to go about my business and live my life without all the hoopla.

Unfortunately, she can't live without all the hoopla. Our marriage was a three-ring circus in the end."Madonna, 50, released a statement on Wednesday announcing that her and husband Ritchie were to divorce.She had wanted to postpone the divorce announcement until the end of her world tour but Ritchie said that he wanted to end the "charade" now.The British film director has said that he thought he would slip into depression as their relationship began to fall apart but that his wife lost her sense of fun as she began to believe she was on a mission to save the world.He called the star's Kabbalah faith a "weird religion" and said that her religion was a big reason behind the break-up.He added: "There was a time when she used to have a sense of humour about herself. "In the last few years she just got angry. In the end we had no proper family life at all.

We were two different people, living two different lives."No settlement has been reached but experts have said that Ritchie is likely to get up to 100 million of the pop star's estimated 600 million.The director of British gangster films including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is worth a fraction of that, with generous estimates putting his wealth at £20 million.However, according to The Sun newspaper, Ritchie has told lawyers he wants "not one penny" of Madonna's estimated 600 million fortune. The couple have already made the welfare of their three children - Lourdes, 11, Rocco, seven, and adopted David, two - their priority.