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

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.

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

Rocco

, 9, and

David Banda

, 4.

It's complicated

Sitting down for a chinwag with

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

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.

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.

"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."

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

.

"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...

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

.

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.

"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

"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

here

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Pictured: Guy Ritchie and Madonna. Photos / AP

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