Brian McFadden and Kerry Katona at their weddingFormer Westlife star Brian McFadden has admitted he only married ex-wife Kerry Katona for the big party - and the money from selling the photos.

The couple were reportedly paid a six-figure amount by a magazine for the 2002 wedding and had two daughters together before separating in 2004.

Brian told Reveal magazine recently: “It wasn’t a real wedding. We were getting married to have a big party and get loads of money for it - and to appear showbiz.”

“The day my marriage ended was on the stag night [when Brian had a one-night stand with a lapdancer]. That was the time I felt ‘this is not supposed to be’. At first, I denied the lapdancer thing, but then I was taken to court for calling her a liar.”

“Me and Kerry didn’t even see each other on our wedding night.”

“If we hadn’t had kids, the marriage wouldn’t have lasted as long as it did. I was too young to understand what having kids meant. Having a child was like getting a dog.”

Kerry had previously said that Brian dumped her but Brian now claims it was a mutual decision: “Kerry had taken the kids and was living with her mum. I was in New York and she phoned me and asked ‘Don’t you love me any more?’ I said: ‘Not like I did at the start.’ She said: ‘Neither do I. We have to end it.’”

“I left it at that, then got another call [from Kerry] saying ‘I’m having a press conference to say we’re separating. I want to move on with my life.’ I felt relieved, although I felt sad for the children.”

“After the press conference she phoned again and said ‘I’m having nothing to do with this, you’re the one leaving me. I don’t want to break up.’ I said ‘Are we getting back together?’ And she said ‘No.’ Then it spiralled out of control. All of a sudden it was: ‘He didn’t love me any more, and wants to break up.’”

“I don’t talk to her now. But if I had to, I’d only do it for the sake of the kids.”

“My private life became as artificial as my pop life in Westlife, but I couldn’t see it at the time. We became a showbiz couple, and everyone was talking about us. That swept me off my feet.”

“After we had the first baby, bought a house and spent time together, I woke up one morning and realised ‘this is not what I want to do with my life. We don’t have anything in common’.”

Brian is now dating former Neighbours star Delta Goodrem while Kerry married Mark Croft in a private ceremony in Gretna Green last month.