Molly: So, Madonna and Guy have denied that their marriage is on the skids. But I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been true.

Tad: Me neither. Madonna gives the slight impression of being somewhat self-obsessed - which could impede someone from making a proper go of a relationship with another human being.

Molly: Er ... don't you mean incredibly powerful and successful? In other words, everything men aspire to be themselves but don't want in a wife or girlfriend.

Tad: What are you talking about? Men are very happy to marry successful, intelligent women. Chuck “rich” into the equation and I think you'll find that most men would be delighted.

Do women prefer rich or funny men?

He says: Women want rich partners. She says: you must be joking! It's all about a man's sense of humour

Background

• Tad and Molly: is it OK to flirt on Facebook?

• Should Prince William marry Kate Middleton?

• Tad & Molly: Why do women go for men who behave badly?

• Tad & Molly: why women are sluts and men are studs

Background

• Should men be paid more than women?

• Baldness or menopause?

Molly: I struggle to think of many men happily settled with women who are more successful than they are. Jane Fonda actually cited her career as a bone of contention in her short-lived marriage to Ted Turner, the media mogul. To me, Madonna is in the same boat as Oprah Winfrey, Kylie, Audrey Hepburn, even Jane Austen - a breed of highly successful women whom their male peers respect but wouldn't dream of knuckling down with. And the trend isn't limited to celebrities. A report from Britain's leading universities found that for every 16-point increase in their IQ score, men were 35 per cent more likely to find themselves a wife. Yet for women, each 16-point advance in their intelligence decreased their chance of getting married by more than 40 per cent.

Tad: You're making a mighty leap from that statistic to your hypothesis that men can't handle being in a relationship with someone more successful than themselves. Quite simply, when it comes to affairs of the heart, intelligence and success are not barriers to making huge cock-ups.

Molly: But I'm talking about the different raw material that men and women look for in a mate. I think that, unlike successful men, powerful women don't willingly choose a less successful mate; they are confined to fishing in a pool of beta candidates because men of equal or nearly equal status hate the prospect of playing second fiddle to them. Is that what men really want? To marry women who allow them to be the undisputed star of the show? How depressing...

Tad: I'm sure some do. But who says that powerful women don't insist on being the stars of their own shows, and so deliberately marry lesser men?

Molly: A list of Madonna's ex-boyfriends - starting with Warren Beatty and Dennis Rodman, not to mention Sean Penn - suggests that the most powerful woman on earth left no stone unturned in her search for someone who was her equal.

Tad: Madonna is “the most powerful woman on earth”? Now that's a scary thought. Who do you think she should be going after? The list of eligible global megastars of Madonna's magnitude is not large.

Molly: Roman Abramovich, for one. There's a guy who could equal her drive and success in the pursuit of wealth and fame. And yet, as if to prove my point, he's marrying a 23-year-old dancer...

Tad: I don't think your next career should be as a matchmaker, somehow. Anyway, rumour has it that Madonna didn't make Guy Ritchie sign a prenup. So ... do you still think she's so clever?

Times recommends

• The real Paul Raymond
• Living in the moment
• Rent out your home and move abroad