WELLCOME TO VARISMAD: 2008.04

Despite approaching 50, Madonna has the body of a woman half her ageShe said: "We lie right next to each other with our BlackBerrys under our pillows. It's not unromantic, it's practical. "I'm sure loads of couples have their BlackBerrys in bed with them. "I often wake up in the middle of the night and remember that I've forgotten something, so I jump up and make notes." Although her continuing success while his career has dwindled, Madonna also claims her relationship with the Snatch director is far from unbalanced. She said: "I had to marry someone as tough as me. Guy's definitely tough. I had to marry a challenge, otherwise I would just get bored. "Whatever else Guy is, he's never boring. He can be intolerant of my behaviour but he has certain personality traits which need to change as well." Her husband, she admits, does urge her to be more feminine. "I've always been very comfortable with my masculine side - the confidence, the ballsiness. I've learnt to be more pliant, more vulnerable and to be comfortable with that." Madonna revealed she doesn't understand the column inches her marriage generates. "Posh and Becks are much more interesting. Maybe even Camilla and Charles." In the interview, she also talks about her fitness regime, she spends 2-3 hours a day doing Ashtanga, the most physical form of yoga, plus pilates, swimming, cycling and weight training. The queen of pop donned fishnets for the raunchy photoshootAnd as she also reveals, she is "mad for machines". The singer, who is 50 in August, uses the Power-Plate (vibrating platform) and Cardio Wave (which exercises the buttocks). Her diet is strict macrobiotic, which is based on grains, with organic fruits, vegetables and natural sugars. She's so careful about what she eats that she very rarely goes to restaurants. "You can never be entirely sure what's on your plate," she says. Talking about how she remains in incredible shape, she says: "There are no short cuts to being Madonna. "It's all about hard work. There is no easy way. If you want to know how I look like I do, it's diet and exercise and constantly being careful." Madonna revealed all in the interview ahead of her new album's releaseShe swears by oxygen facials and never goes in the sun, drinks rarely and would like to work out for three hours a day, she reveals in a candid interview on the eve of the hotly anticipated release of her 26th album, Hard Candy. It probably comes as no surprise that her routine is regimented and strict and that is how she gets such great results. "I'm not going to slow down, get off this ride, stay home and get fat!" she declares. But she does give herself a treat every so often for all that hard work. "One of the worst things about Britain is that it has such fabulous candy," she says and lets slip that when she has worked particularly hard at something, like the rest of us she rewards herself with a treat. "I love Cadbury Fruit and Nut, Crunchies and Maltesers. But my absolute favourite is a Cadbury Creme Egg. I bite straight in to it and suck all that good stuff right out!" While the mum-of-three has recently criticised the transport in London as being rubbish, she has no plans to move back to the U.S anytime soon. She said: "I think of Britain as my home. And I love the weather. All that rain and moisture is so good for the skin." With everything she has to deal with, the veteran popstar admits she has her insecurities and does not believe she is perfect, despite her continued success. "I have a career, a husband and kids. It's a lot of hard work. I always end up failing a little bit in one of those areas." The full interview with Madonna is in Elle magazine, out today