Gallagher granted quick divorce amid controversy over adultery

"I have agreed to go along with Meg's request for a quick divorce for the sake of our family and to get the whole thing over with," Gallagher, 32, told the Daily Mirror. According to the Mirror, Gallagher could no longer take the constant parties his wife, Meg Mathews, 34, threw in their London home. "I want to make it clear that the reasons given in the divorce petition related to the situation after our separation and had nothing to do with the marriage breakdown and Meg knows this," Gallagher said.

"Throughout our time together I never cheated on Meg," he said. Girlfriend Sara MacDonald, 30, also denied being intimate with Gallagher before his separation. "I feel that Ms Mathews would benefit from a more honest and introspective evaluation of the real cause of the breakdown of her marriage," she said. The decree was granted, along with 31 others, in a 75-second hearing before District Judge Clive Million at London's Divorce Court, ending the three-year marriage.

The Mirror raised the possibility Gallagher could face legal difficulties and could be charged with contempt of court. Gallagher and Mathews married in a Las Vegas chapel in 1997 and in January last year Mathews gave birth to their daughter, Anais. Under a prenuptial agreement Mathews was to receive 100,000 pounds (150,000 dollars) if the marriage collapsed. When they split Gallagher increased the sum to 500,000 pounds, according to the Mirror.

Last month he offered three million pounds, but Mathews demanded a total of 10 million in cash and homes in London and on Ibiza. The Mirror estimated Gallagher's wealth at 25 million pounds, but said disappointing album sales and major problems in the band meant his cash could be running low.

(la/dpa)