Phil Collins, the spud-headed drummer, singer and sometime actor who has managed to inflict both Another Day In Paradise and I Can’t Dance on a perfectly innocent world, has split up with another wife.

Phil Collins and his Swiss wife Orianne have announced their split. Not that this is actually news, of course, since Phil and Orianne haven’t actually been living together for the last three months. Perhaps the story would have been broken earlier if Phil Collins was still famous.

Phil Collins (CDs) has a patchy history with wives. He was married to Andrea
Bertorelli in the 1970s, and had two children with her before she left
him while he was on tour in 1979. That split proved to be the
inspiration for his Face Value album. Phil Collins was then married to Jill
Tavelman, and had a daughter with her, before chucking her for Orianne
- a woman 22 years his junior – by fax. This split was said to have
inspired the Phil Collins-written soundtrack to the Disney Tarzan
movie, as evidenced by the song Moves Like An Ape, Looks Like A Man.

And now, after six years and two children, Phil Collins has split with Orianne too. In a statement, Phil’s publicist
Mara Buxbaum revealed slightly more than the "We’re still friends, now
leave us alone" line that celebrities usually go for in similar
situations:

"They have been living separately since the
beginning of the year and both cite the fact that they have been
growing apart for some time now and this has put too much pressure on
their relationship. Consequently, they have decided in the interests of their two children that it is better to separate. They are both very sad that it should come to
this but have as their priority the welfare and happiness of their
children and are determined to remain friends and be loving parents to
them."

Phil Collins is to continue living in Switzerland for tax purposes the benefit of his kids. Rather that than a Genesis reunion, we guess.

Read more:

Collins splits from wife No 3 – This Is London

[story by Stuart Heritage]