Bette Midler says the secret to her 30-year marriage has been ''never'' seeing her husband.

The 69-year-old singer tied the knot to artist Martin Von Haselberg in 1984 and while she joked being apart from him for lengthy spells is the reason they are still together, she admitted the pair used to ''fight bitterly'' but they decided to stay together for the sake of their daughter Sophie, who is now 28.

When asked what the secret to a long marriage is, she replied: ''We never see each other! No, he really is the wind beneath my wings, he has looked after me for many, many years, he's sacrificed a lot.

''We used to fight bitterly, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to raise a child, we wanted to raise a really wonderful child, we never wanted to hurt that kid in any way and we stayed together until it got better, and it did get better and it was really fascinating.

''And both of us, we both look back and we just like wipe our brows and say, 'What the hell was that?' ''

The 'Wind Beneath My Wings' hitmaker also admitted she was proud of her and Martin's relationship because it is the ''oldest marriage in Hollywood''.

Speaking on ITV's 'Good Morning Britain', she added: ''It's like a thousand years in dog years. Our marriage is the oldest marriage in Hollywood.''