Madonna was previously married to director Guy Ritchie, with whom she has two children, and once spoke about an ‘existential question’ that she faced prior to their split

One of Madonna’s most high-profile romances was with her now ex-husband Guy Ritchie(Image: WireImage)

Throughout her more than 40 year career, Madonna’s high profile romances have been just as headline-grabbing as her chart-topping music.

The singer, 66, is currently linked to sports star Akeem Morris, 28, with the pair having looked cosy in recent photos.

One of Madonna’s most talked-about relationships though remains her past romance with filmmaker Guy Ritchie, 55. Sparks flew between them back in 1999, leading to their marriage a year later. Madonna and Guy share son Rocco, who was born in 2000, and adopted son David.

The Like A Prayer singer once suggested their romance had been “flawless” but eventually she noticed “cracks in the veneer”. Doubts crept in about her seemingly idyllic union with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director Guy.

She confessed once that she started to see that things weren’t as she had imagined, leading her to ask a pivotal question which saw the end of her marriage to Guy.

In a candid 2012 interview with Newsweek magazine, Madonna reflected on the end of her marriage, revealing she was grappling with deep questions about love. She made the remarks whilst discussing her film W.E. (2011), which the outlet noted centred on a character stuck in an ‘unhappy marriage’, and it asked if her split from Guy was on her mind when she made the film.

Discussing having begun writing it during her marriage, she confessed that at one point she was “certainly asking a kind of existential question” that she believes other people ask when they’ve been married for years, saying it was: “What is the perfect love?”

Madonna and Guy Ritchie, pictured in 2005, were once in a relationship(Image: Getty Images)

The couple got married in 2000 and announced their separation eight years later(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

The pop icon also shared: “Because when you start off, everything’s great and lovely, and the person you’ve married is flawless, and you’re flawless.” As time passed, she observed: “Then time goes by, and you share a life, you have children, and there are cracks in the veneer.”

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Madonna noted the shift in dynamic, saying that it’s “not as romantic” as it once was. She pinpointed the pivotal moment that led to the unraveling of her relationship, admitting: “You think, ‘This isn’t what I thought it was going to be,’ and ‘How much am I willing to sacrifice?’”

There were rumours in 2008 that the pair had split, which were shut down at the time. And amid rumours that she was seeing baseball star Alex Rodriguez, the singer firmly denied the claim to People magazine, stating: “My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce. I know Alex Rodriguez through Guy Oseary, who manages both of us.”

She clarified her connection to Alex, explaining: “I brought my kids to a Yankee game. I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez. I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study.”

By December of that year, it was confirmed that Madonna and her husband Guy had decided to part ways. They entered a compromise over custody of son Rocco, which divided their time between London and New York.