United Kingdom, Dec. 7 -- Danielle Spencer felt "guilty" when she ended her marriage to Russell Crowe.

The 56-year-old singer-and-actress split from the Gladiator star - with whom she has sons Charles, 22, and 19-year-old Tennyson - in 2012 after 15 years together and while she felt their separation was the right thing to do, she was still conflicted at the idea of "fracturing the family".

Speaking on the Something To Talk About podcast, she said: "It's really sad breaking up with somebody that you've known for so long, that you've had children with.

"Me kind of breaking up the family - and it felt very much like I was driving that - so I had to deal with my almost sense of guilt that I was fracturing the family, but obviously I did it...