Russell Brand has said he still thinks fondly of ex-wife Katy Perry, despite the abrupt end of their 14-month marriage in December 2011. The 41-year-old star opened up about their romance, and gave a candid insight into his new family life with partner Laura Gallacher and baby daughter Mabel, when he appeared as a guest on Thursday night's episode of John Bishop in Conversation. Of Katy, he remarked: "I have come away from that experience and I still feel very warm towards her. When I hear about her or see her, I think 'Ah, there's that person, that person in the world.'"
© Photo: Getty ImagesRussell Brand and Katy Perry split in December 2011 after 14 months of marriage
Russell blamed the couple's split back in December 2011 on the pressures of fame and their busy work schedules. "Katy was obviously very, very occupied and busy. I was occupied and busy but not to the same degree," he said. "The marriage didn't last for a very long time and I think that is due to the undulating nature of fame, living in those conditions." Russell and Katy first met in 2009 and got engaged on New Year's Eve in India that same year. They were married in October 2010 in a Hindu ceremony in Rajasthan. Katy later said that the British comedian had ended their marriage just over a year later via text message.
During the interview, Russell also opened up about becoming a first-time father to daughter Mabel in November last year. "When she was born, I felt something really quite profound," he said. "I felt extremely present in that birth, completely overwhelmed by it." He added: "I've heard a lot of men say, 'I didn't know I had so much love in me', but I did know I had so much love in me. I just didn't know what to do with it. And when I saw her, I felt something switch on – this sense of very determined and clear purpose."
STORY: Kirsty Gallacher congratulates sister and Russell Brand on birth of baby
© Photo: Getty ImagesLaura Gallacher (right) pictured with her older sister Kirsty Gallacher
The star continued: "I feel this candid, plain, all-encompassing love for this child – this surging, ridiculous, giddy love. I feel like everybody deserves this love. The thing that has been the most spectacular thing in my life has been the most ordinary thing: a baby came out, like all of us did, the same experience we've all had. A completely ordinary thing."
Russell also spoke about his relationship with Laura – sister of TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher. "The bond between my partner and I is based on something that is very earthed," he said. "We are friends. We are very good friends. When I'm talking to her, I'm very plainly chatting. I thank god for something normal, something real. Not something that's going to break apart and be nothing."
