Despite it all, though, he maintains he doesn't regret that he and Kerry are no longer pop's golden couple.

He has had two top 5 solo hits in Britain and his duet with Delta went to number one in Australia. He's about to embark on a 24-date UK tour and his and Kerry's lives now, he insists, are better than when they were together at the end of their marriage.

"The good thing is our girls are very young so they don't understand everything that's gone on and the main thing is they are happy," he says..

"Before, they were being dragged all over the place, there was no stability in their lives, and then when we were together there was an unhappy environment in the house. Now they see us separately but they see that we're happy and they get all the attention.

"The lines of communication between me and Kerry never really broke down, but we needed some time and now we phone each other all the time, we're mates and we talk.

"I write songs, I don't want people to like me necessarily for my private life. I just want to sing and have a normal life and hopefully people will see beyond everything that's been written and allow that to happen.

"And do you know what? Kerry's happy now, I'm happy and the kids are happy and that's all that's important to me."

* Brian McFadden is at the Liverpool Empire, May 26.