NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Entertainment

Guy on Madonna: 'I still love her...but she's retarded'

Herald online
7 Oct, 2009 10:25 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Guy Ritchie says he's still in love with Madonna, but thinks she's 'retarded, too'. Photos / AP

Guy Ritchie says he's still in love with Madonna, but thinks she's 'retarded, too'. Photos / AP

Madonna

's former fella

Guy Ritchie

appears to be on some kind of mood elevator when it comes to reflecting on his ex.

Nearly a year since they severed their union, the gruff cockney geezer has opened up and offered an insight into how he really feels about the Material Girl.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ritchie, 41, and Madge, 51, divorced last December and have joint custody of sons

Rocco

, 9, and

David Banda

, 4.

Discover more

Entertainment

Madonna 'desperate for a baby Jesus'

19 Jan 11:14 PM
Entertainment

Lovebirds Madonna and Jesus rock in Rio

15 Feb 11:07 PM
Entertainment

Guy Ritchie to become a father third time

06 Mar 04:30 PM
Entertainment

Madonna gives up on African school, gets sued - reports

30 Mar 12:12 AM

It's complicated

Sitting down for a chinwag with

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Esquire

magazine, Ritchie clearly has mixed feelings about his doomed relationship with Madge.

"

And, of course, here you go: I still love her

," said the

Sherlock Holmes

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

director in the November issue of the magazine.

So there you have it. Rather than opt for emotional stuntedness and stick a fork in their forever bond and declaring it done, Ritchie chose to shoot from the lip and express his true feelings. Such candour is refreshing, but we doubt Madge will agree. Especially after what he said next.

And here comes the punch line: "

But she's retarded, too

," he adds.

Love him or loathe him, you have to hand it to the guy for his honesty.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Photos: The way they were - Madge and Guy

To be fair, Ritchie also expressed admiration for his former missus.

"She's a manifester, if there ever was one," he says.

"First-rate manifester. Madonna makes things happen. Put Madonna up against any 23-year-old, she'll outwork them, out dance them, outperform them. The woman is broad."

Absolutely. She can most definitely give any 23-year-old spring chicken a run for his money. Just look at her and 22-year-old Brazilian hottie, Jesus. Wave away the whole cliched 'cradle-snatching' thing and you have to admit that the pair do make a lovely, if not unconventional, couple. Good luck to 'em.

'I feel it'

Ritchie also admits that the collapse of his marriage has wounded him.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"You can't tell someone when they're getting divorced that their pain is an illusion," he says.

"I'm f***** telling you, I feel it. I've been through that... No one can say you don't feel that."

But so too does Madge.

Interviewed by

David Letterman

last week and asked whether she'd ever get married again, she quipped: "I think I'd rather get run over by a train."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A sentiment which went down like a lead balloon with Jesus. He was not a happy chappie. Heartbroken. Apparently.

A snitch said the snub left Jesus "reeling".

"Madonna and Jesus rarely fight but he was really wounded by what she said.

"He said she had made a fool of him," the source told

The Sun

.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"He told his friends he was planning on marrying her and was heartbroken to learn in such a public way they weren't on the same page.

"They had a huge row afterwards. It was a serious ding-dong."

We bet it was. But just think of the make-up fun afterwards.

Argument? What argument? Gone in 60 seconds.

Video: Madonna's ode to Ritchie

Anyway, back to Ritchie...

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Meanwhile, still strolling down memory lane, Ritchie reminisced about the Madonna he knew - as a wife first, not a megastar.

"Madonna, when she came in here, it was old-school London," he says.

"No one bothered her. 'Hello, darling. How are you, darling? What can we get you?' It was fundamental, old-school. It didn't matter who she was. She was my wife."

But Ritchie does indirectly point the finger of blame at Madge for the box office bomb that was celluloid turkey

Swept Away

.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Video: Swept Away, but not forgotten

"My sensibility is accessible. The first two accessible movies I made,

Lock, Stock [and Two Smoking Barrels]

and

Snatch

, they are accessible," he says.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The next two aren't accessible ...

Swept Away

, which, well, everyone gets confused on, because of Madonna."

Confused? We're certainly not.

We can't help but wonder whether Ritchie's not-so-subtle "retarded" comment was a much-delayed retort to Madge's on-stage swipe at her ex last year.

Remember how, barely hours after her divorce announcement, a vengeful Madonna  branded him

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"emotionally retarded"

before leaping into a song about an estranged couple.

Subtle. As. A. Brick.

Over to you, Madge...

P.S. You can read Ritchie's full

Esquire

interview

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

here

Blogger Bites Back

Pictured: Guy Ritchie and Madonna. Photos / AP

*New(ish) - follow Blogger Bites Back on Twitter

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Entertainment

Entertainment

Lorde releases new single ahead of Virgin album

19 Jun 10:47 PM
Premium
Lifestyle

From Jacinda Ardern to Air NZ: 32 of the best lifestyle and entertainment stories of the year so far

19 Jun 10:00 PM
World

Trump gives TikTok 90 more days to find buyer, again delayed ban

19 Jun 05:53 PM

Help for those helping hardest-hit

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Entertainment

Lorde releases new single ahead of Virgin album

Lorde releases new single ahead of Virgin album

19 Jun 10:47 PM

Hammer the last song the Kiwi singer will release before her album comes out next week.

Premium
From Jacinda Ardern to Air NZ: 32 of the best lifestyle and entertainment stories of the year so far

From Jacinda Ardern to Air NZ: 32 of the best lifestyle and entertainment stories of the year so far

19 Jun 10:00 PM
Trump gives TikTok 90 more days to find buyer, again delayed ban

Trump gives TikTok 90 more days to find buyer, again delayed ban

19 Jun 05:53 PM
Premium
TikTok made Addison Rae famous. Pop made her cool

TikTok made Addison Rae famous. Pop made her cool

19 Jun 06:00 AM
Inside Leigh Hart’s bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi
sponsored

Inside Leigh Hart’s bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP