In her first interview since her divorce, Madonna admits her split from Guy Ritchie has been tough.

“I’m sad about my personal life, but I feel very blessed and very lucky that I have the opportunity to do what I do in my professional life,” she told The Associated Press on Sunday.

As she continues on her Sticky & Sweet tour, she said her heavy workload “provides a distraction that keeps me going.”

She added, “It would be horrible if I was just thinking about getting a divorce and had nothing to do.”

Ritchie is also staying busy, as he films Sherlock Holmes in London.

On Friday, in a one-minute London court proceeding, the two were granted a preliminary “quickie divorce.” Their split will be finalized in six weeks and a day.

According to a court document, Madonna, who acted as the petitioner, said in a sworn statement that she is divorcing Ritchie for his “unreasonable behavior.”

The two ended the split amicably: British press reported that Rocco, 8, and David, 3, will split time between the U.S. and London, while Lourdes, whose father is Carlos Leon, will live with her mother.

Madonna will also keep the bulk of her estimated $500 million fortune.

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Official proceedings in the Madonna-Guy Ritchie divorce will begin Friday in in London, The Associated Press reports.

London’s High Court lists “Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S” as one of 16 cases for “matrimonial and civil partnership causes for pronouncement of decree.” The two — who announced they were calling it quits Oct. 15 after 7 1/2 years of marriage — most likely will not be in court.

After a judge grants the couple a preliminary divorce decree tomorrow, their split should be finalized in about six weeks.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Evening Standard reports that the two have reached a settlement and that Ritchie will not accept any of Madonna’s money.

But Ritchie has insisted on sharing custody of the couple’s two children, Rocco, 8, and adopted son David, 3.

An announcement about the couple’s divorce is expected to be made at the end of the month, the newspaper said.

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The star’s biographer, J. Randy Taraborrelli, said that the couple were “no closer” to reaching any agreement.  He said the main stumbling block is where the couple’s children will live and be educated.

The breakdown in the marriage of 50-year-old Madonna and her film director husband was first made public two weeks ago.

The pair are in dispute over where their children children Rocco, seven, and adopted David Banda, three, will be based.  Madonna wants them to live with her and her daughter Lourdes, 12, in New York, while Ritchie wants them educated in England.  Mr Taraborrelli told Hello! magazine the pair “are at loggerheads”.

He said: “There was a great deal of haggling about this matter last week, with Madonna upping the amount of Guy’s settlement to more than £20million in hope that he would acquiesce.” He said : “They are not even speaking to each other. They communicate only through lawyers”.

Mr Taraborrelli also said a friend of Ritchie told him that the break-up could become more acrimonious
The source told him: “I do think it’s going to get nasty. He and Madonna are very angry now, no doubt about it but they are willing to put that aside for their children.

“But I do think that if one sees the other linked up with a new partner so soon, it will make everything a lot more complicated for everyone involved.”

It was claimed that the couple’s lawyers are seeking witness statements from business and house staff.

The singer has hired Fiona Shackleton, who represented Sir Paul McCartney in his divorce from Heather Mills.

Ritchie is using the services of Helen Ward, who secured Britain’s highest divorce settlement of £48million for Beverley Charman from Sevenoaks, Kent when she was divorced from her husband, the insurance tycoon John Charman.

Mr Taraborrelli also said the pair now have very few friends in common.

A source told him: “Madonna was never very fond of Guy’s pals. She found them uninteresting and dull.”

Mr Taraborrelli added that Madonna had shrugged off remarks made by her father-in-law John Ritchie last week.

He is said to have branded the singer “beastly”.

“He never liked me,” she is reported to have said, “but… whatever.”

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Guy Ritchie is “in pieces” after seeing a photo of his son Rocco in a T-shirt supporting Alex Rodriguez’s New York Yankees baseball team, a source tells Usmagazine.com.

The 8-year-old was photographed sporting the shirt Monday in New York City.

“He’s actually been crying over it,” says the source on the set of Ritchie’s upcoming drama Sherlock Holmes. “He’s in a terrible state but is doing his best to be on form at work.”

The insider tells Us Ritchie “cannot believe” Madonna would let their son wear the shirt, given the fact that her close relationship with the slugger played a role in their contentious divorce.

“He said she is the ‘lowest of the low’ and is even more determined to fight for his side now,” the source says.

“Madonna has hit the wrong button,” adds the insider. “He won’t sink to her level, but she better watch out because it seems he has a lot on her.”

The two have yet to reach a financial settlement over their $525 million fortune or reach a custody arrangement for Rocco, their only biological child.

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This cracks me up.  I mean old - maybe, ugly - probably, but fat!?  I don’t think you can ever call Madonna fat.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s marriage was plagued by physical and emotional abuse in recent years, friends of the couple reveal in the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.

“She would taunt Guy, saying, ‘I should have married someone like me: strong, hot-blooded, intelligent, ambitious, spiritual,’” reveals a Ritchie source. “Their fights would often get heated. A few times Madonna slapped him or poked him.”

His reaction? “Guy called her old, fat, ugly and wrinkled and said that she was stupid and couldn’t sing,” another Madonna pal tells Us.

Meanwhile, a source tells Us Ritchie has already entered a relationship with British actress Kelly Reilly, who is starring in his upcoming drama Sherlock Holmes.On Oct. 18 - three days after he announced he and Madonna were divorcing - he sent his driver back to his $12 million home in London’s Marylebone district “very last-minute” to pack an overnight bag for a stay at a nearby Chatham hotel — where Reilly is residing.

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Guy Ritchie struck out, but A-Rod is just stepping up to the plate.

Madonna’s fairy-tale marriage with the British filmmaker came to a disastrous end because she got way too cozy with the Yankee superstar, sources told The Post yesterday.

Alex Rodriguez was so smitten with the pop queen that they discussed opening a chain of gyms together. He even attended Yom Kippur services with her and her three children in Times Square last week - sans “Snatch” director Ritchie.

“Things got to a breaking point about a month ago,” an insider told The Post. “And they [Madonna and Ritchie] did an intensive, two-week kabbalah course. That didn’t work.”

Source, WENN

After months of rumors that Madonna’s marriage was in trouble, the singer’s rep, Liz Rosenberg, finally confirmed that Madonna and Guy Ritchie are calling it quits.

Now that divorce is imminent, it’s inevitable Madonna’s relationship with Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez is going to be scrutinized all over. His appearance at her Oct. 12 concert in New York City doesn’t help the situation.

“Before the show (Rodriguez) wasn’t there, but after the lights went down and she started singing, he came in and sat front and center,” says a source who sat near A-Rod.

Madonna’s plans with A-Rod extend beyond the concert: the singer is reportedly planning a trip to Malawi when her “Sticky & Sweet” tour ends, and A-Rod is said to be joining her. The trip is meant to be a fact-finding mission to raise awareness for Madonna’s Raising Malawi charity (a rep for Raising Malawi didn’t comment by deadline).

A source from the Kabbalah Centre in New York City says that before that trip, “expect them to make a public appearance together at the Kabbalah Centre here.”

Source, WENN