Madonna claims she felt like a prisoner while married to her second husband, British director Guy Ritchie.

The Living For Love hitmaker married Ritchie in 2000, but has confessed to feeling trapped by the Sherlock Holmes filmmaker during their seven-and-a-half-year marriage and believes the 46-year-old held her back artistically.

Speaking about their time together, she told The Sun: ‘I did find myself sometimes in a state of conflict. There were many times when I wanted to express myself as an artist in ways that I don’t think my ex-husband felt comfortable with.

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Candid: Madonna has reflected on her marriage to British film director Guy Ritchie, with whom she is a parent to 14-year-old son Rocco

‘There were times when I felt incarcerated. I wasn’t really allowed to be myself.’

The 56-year-old star – whose 13th studio album Rebel Heart is out this week – divorced Guy in 2008, but now acknowledges compromise is a key part of any relationship, so she just needs to find the right man who can fully accept what she does.

She added: ‘I think when you get married you have to be willing to make a lot of compromises and that’s fair enough. I think that’s the way it goes in relationships.’

Incarcerated: Madonna claims she ‘felt incarcerated’ during her seven-and-a-half years with the filmmaker

The iconic star also took a swipe at those who have criticized her for consistently dating younger men following her divorce from Ritchie – amongst them Brahim Zaibat and Timor Steffans, who were both in their twenties.

She said: ‘It’s OK if Mick Jagger dates a 25-year-old girl but if I date a 25-year-old man I’m, you know… it’s ridiculous. It’s so unfair, I mean, I don’t get it.’

The singer – a parent who has Rocco, 14, with Guy, as well as David, nine, and Mercy, five, who the pair adopted while together – previously referred to ageist attitudes during an interview with Out magazine.

Promotional trail: Madonna is currently promoting her thirteenth studio album, Rebel Heart

‘You’re still categorised—you’re still either a virgin or a whore. If you’re a certain age, you’re not allowed to express your 𝓈ℯ𝓍uality, be single, or date younger men,’ she said.

The Living For Love hit-maker went on to reveal that she used to wish she was gay, because men on of the opposite 𝓈ℯ𝓍 didn’t ‘get’ her.

‘I didn’t feel like straight men understood me. They just wanted to have 𝓈ℯ𝓍 with me,’ Madonna admitted. ‘Gay men understood me, and I felt comfortable around them.

‘There was only that one problem, which is that they didn’t want to have 𝓈ℯ𝓍 with me!’