Cher considered suicide

The legendary singer - who married her musical partner in 1964 - struggled to cope with her partner`s womanising ways and controlling attitude, and now accepts they should never have wed.

She said: "He didn`t want me to grow up or have any freedom. I wasn`t allowed to do anything except work. We worked more than we lived.

"Stardom made Sonny a huge womaniser. One woman, or even five, was not enough for him. I found all this out afterward. I asked him, `How did you manage the logistics?` I was trusting and faithful with him. The truth is, I`m not so sure we should`ve ever been husband and wife.

"I thought about jumping off a hotel balcony. Then I thought, `No, I can just leave him.` "

Though Cher was miserable in her marriage to Sonny - who died in a skiing accident in 1998 - the 64-year-old star has now found happiness with 52-year-old Ron Zimmerman - though the screenwriter initially thought she was a prostitute when they first made contact with one another on social networking website Facebook a year ago.

She explained to Parade magazine: "A girlfriend of mine knew him. He wrote her this funny stuff. So then Ron and I started writing to each other on Facebook. He thought that I was a Cher impersonator or a hooker - it never occurred to him that it was actually me.

"We played verbal volleyball for about a month until he called my friend and asked who I really was. She went, `It`s Cher.` Ron flipped out. Then we talked on the phone. I said, `Why don`t you come over and we`ll meet? If I don`t like you or you don`t like me, you can just go home.` And that`s how we met."

The `Burlesque` star has previously dated a string of famous men including Warren Beatty, Val Kilmer, Tom Cruise and Richie Sambora and insists she has no relationship regrets.

She said: "I enjoyed them all. I never felt I chose badly, and I was always happy when the next man came along. I can usually last about two years with a man, and that`s it. The moment the relationship goes into the phase of more commitment, it changes."

sections: Celebrities