Madonna Interview

• Loads more Madonna stuff

 

You turn 50 this year – will that make you slow down?
I'm not going to be defined by my age. Why should any woman? I'm not going to slow down, get off this ride, stay home and get fat. No way! I would certainly never get fat. I feel great and if anything I'm probably speeding up.

 

There's so much more in my life to deal with. I've got work to do, children to raise, a husband to please and a world to save. I have a total sense of urgency about it. I don't feel I've done everything, I do feel I want more, more, more.

 

What's your secret for looking so good?

I'm not against plastic surgery, I'm just against discussing it. In an ideal world, I'd like to exercise for three hours a day but that's if I have absolutely nothing else to do. I couldn't live without exercise. It's completely essential to me. If you want to know how I look like I do its diet and exercise and being constantly careful. I swear by Oxygen facials, I'm obsessive about staying out of the sun. I don't drink much and drugs are completely out.

 

Does good sex really give you a glow? Or is it just about being loved up? 

I think you do look better when you are loved up. But we're not always loved up all the time.

 

Do you watch what you eat?
One of the worst things about Britain is that it has such fabulous candy. I can't allow myself to have it too often. But if I've done something good, if I've achieved something, then I will allow myself a treat. I love Cadbury's Fruit and Nut, Crunchies and Maltesers. But my absolute favourite is a Cadbury's Crème Egg. They are totally deadly but so delicious. I bite straight into it and suck all that good stuff right out. And then I make sure I pay back with discipline.

 

There has been a lot of speculation about your marriage to Guy. Why do you think it creates so much interest?

I'm sure people aren't that interested in my marriage. Posh and Becks are much more interesting. Maybe even Camilla and Charles.

 

There's a track on your new album called 'Miles Away' which is obviously about you being apart from Guy. Tell me about it…

It is inspired by Guy but then you take it on. You realise so many people have to deal with long distance relationships. It's not easy. You have to work hard to make it work.

 

Another track, 'Incredible', features the line 'Sex with you is incredible.' Is that also about Guy?

Absolutely. Sex with Guy is incredible. And surprise, surprise it's his favourite song on the album. Actually, maybe it's not his favourite song but it's definitely his favourite line.

Do your family give you feedback on your music?

When I was making the album, I used to play it to Guy and the kids on our long drives to our house in the country. They would all give their views on the music. Guy isn't worried about being critical about my stuff. He's always the first one to groan and say 'I don't like that'. But I like that about him. He always has an opinion, even if it's the opposite of mine.

 

What attracted to you about Guy?

His sense of humour and his intelligence. That was huge. I had to marry someone as tough as me. Guy's definitely tough, he doesn't give in.

 

But he's obviously been put in front of me to teach me things and vice versa. I had to marry a challenge because otherwise I would just get bored. Whatever else Guy is he's never boring. Actually that's not true. He can be incredibly boring on the subject of jujitsu.

 

After 20 minutes of going on about choke holds and various positions my eyes glaze over and I have to tell him to stop or threaten to talk about Pilates for half an hour. He can be intolerant of my behaviour but he has certain personality traits which need to change as well.  We're both there to help each other and challenge each other

 

How have you changed since marrying Guy?

I think I've been honing and finessing my feminine side. I've always been very comfortable with my masculine side – the confidence, the ballsiness. I've learnt to be more pliant, more vulnerable and to be comfortable with that.

 

How have you changed him?

He doesn't criticise my clothes anymore. And now Guy has learnt to sleep with his Blackberry like I do. We lie right next to each other with our Blackberries under our pillow.

 

Hardly the most romantic image…

Well, it's romantic because we can talk to our lovers while we lie right next to each other. [Laughs]. But it's not unromantic. It's practical. I'm sure loads of couples have their Blackberries in bed with them. I have to sleep with my Blackberry because I often wake up in the middle of the night and I remember that I've forgotten something so I jump up and make notes. Guy doesn't use his for anything like that. Guy always waiting for me to come to bed on he plays Brick on it until I'm ready. I'm his Brick breaker.

 

Would you say you're a control freak?

There are no tricks. Tricks don't work. Discipline does. I've always been this way. I can't help it. Guy tells me to loosen up, my friends do too but I can't. It's entirely a product of my childhood.

 

I have dealt with a lot of my demons but the biggest one is still to do with my mother dying when I was young. As I child I had no control.

 

I felt the word was chaotic around me and I needed to have some control which would enable me to pull myself up by my bootstraps.

 

That's when the self-discipline started. It was my way of survival. It definitely marginalised my feelings. But I still have abandonment issues. I still don't like to be alone. I can't really deal with being alone.

 

Are your children like you?

Lourdes is the most like me. Right now she's just about to hit teenage so that's another challenge for us all to face. She's much more rebellious than I ever was at her age. Much cheekier too. She's a complete tomboy and at the moment she's into the Goth thing, she lives in her spray on jeans but she criticises everybody else about what they wear. No-one is excluded.

Rocco is just Guy. He's very aware, very funny and doesn't let anything drop and David is just this incredibly bright, smart bundle of energy. They are all so different and completely full on.

 

Do you find it juggling work and home life?

I have a career, a husband and kids. It's a lot of hard work I always end up failing a little bit in one of those areas and then I try and compensate for it the next week or the next month or whatever. I feel most guilt about not spending enough time with my children. I always think I should have been there for this or that.  I should have gone to my daughter's ballet lesson or that parent teachers evening. You cut yourself into pieces.

 

Do you count Britain or America as your home?

I think of Britain as my home. My kids are at school there, I have my home there, my horses there. And I love the weather. All that rain and moisture is so good for the skin. The irony is I have to fly to LA for my oxygen facials because the girl who dies them lives over here. So I come to the drying heat to get them done.

New York is also home to me. I feel torn between London and New York. But London is where my family is, so London always wins.

 

Which current artists do you admire?

I think Amy Winehouse is amazing. She has her demons that she needs to deal with but she's young. She has amazing talent. I hope she makes it through.