Sir Brian May has admitted he "didn't allow" himself to be with his now wife Anita Dobson despite being in love with her as he struggled with guilt. The couple, who married in November 2000, have been together since 1986 and Brian divorced his first wife Chrissie Mullen in 1988. However he admitted to struggling with his feelings for the former EastEnders star. "Well, to tell the truth I was so sort-of imbued with morality and guilt and stuff, even though I was in love with Anita I couldn’t admit it to myself. I thought, this is just a period you’re going through, Brian – you just have to sit on your own for a while and let the river flow. I didn’t allow myself to be with her," he told OK magazine in 1998.

Brian spoke further about the difficult period where his relationships overlapped during a Loose Women appearance alongside Anita. The pair met when Brian was still married to Chrissie with whom he has three children. "It's another thing (the overlap) which is kind of taboo to talk about, isn't it? But it happens, you know, in the inevitable process very often in this thing, which everyone resists. I tried to resist it (his feelings for Anita)," he said.

For her part Anita spoke out about their meeting confessing she didn't know he was married and said she was left heartbroken after finding out he was already in a relationship when they first met and shared they "went through hell".

In a candid interview the former EastEnders star explained Brian had initially invited her to a Queen concert at Wembley but she "didn't know" he was married.

"I was heart-wrenched when he told me. We had a terrible row. I was insulted. I thought: 'How dare you go out with me if you're married?'

"So we just kept a certain distance until we could find a place in life where we could be together. But it was hard, really hard," Anita told the Daily Mail in 2011.

"Everybody gets hurt, and, if there are kids, it's not good, but if people fall in love there's nothing you can do about it.

"Even if you separate, the ache is still there. It stops you moving on because it's unresolved.

"We went through hell, but I believe, it was true love. The dust's settled and I have good relationships with his children and ex-wife," she said in the same chat.

The couple tied the knot in a small registry office ceremony in Richmond upon Thames in 2000 and honeymooned in Venice.