Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber is renowned for creating extraordinary musicals that frequently showcase stunning love stories. However, when the curtain falls, beyond the theatre, the star'Andrew Lloyd Webber's wife 'felt she couldn't go on' in devastating admissions personal romantic journey has occasionally proved to be somewhat turbulent.

The 78-year-old composer, celebrated for his contributions to legendary musicals including The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Evita, has been married three times throughout his life. He tied the knot with his first wife, Sarah Hugill on July 24, 1971, and their marriage lasted 12 years. They went on to have two children, Imogen "Imo" Lloyd Webber and Nicholas "Nick" Lloyd Webber. The couple first met at a gathering in Christ Church, when Andrew was 21 years old and Sarah was "a slip of a 16-year-old schoolgirl", according to an extract from his frank memoir, Unmasked. In the book, he disclosed how it took little time for him to become smitten with Sarah. Andrew previously explained how the affection he experienced for Sarah motivated him to compose "fast" and "furiously" while developing Jesus Christ Superstar.

"I proposed to Sarah in late 1970, which was a stupid formality; we had long presumed we would get hitched as soon as she legally could," he said. Their wedding was described as "simple" yet "beautiful", with him claiming Sarah was "glowing" despite him accidentally spilling champagne over her wedding dress.

However, the wedding bubble was short-lived as the reality of her age hit him as they were on the way to their honeymoon and she broke down in floods of tears. "I pulled the car over and took her in my arms as the reality of what I had done hit me. I had taken a girl aged barely 18, straight out of school, and propelled her away from her family into a new life that happened to include being the wife of the composer of the first British musical to premiere on Broadway."

The couple welcomed their first child, Imogen, in 1977, followed by Nicholas in 1979. Andrew describes Sarah as a "supermum" who encouraged him to seize every professional opportunity that came his way. However, it wasn't solely career prospects that kept him occupied. Before long, the father-of-two embarked on an affair with one of the "gorgeous-looking singers" appearing in his hugely successful musical Cats.

Further details of Andrew's relationship with Sarah Brightman were unveiled in Unmasked, where he confessed it was "inevitable" that he would have a "serious affair" at some point. The pair first met when she auditioned for Cats in the early 1980s, at a time when both were married to other people.

The pair's romance blossomed during a brief trip to northern Italy, where a drive from Milan to Portofino included a stop at a café for lunch, during which the two talked for hours. By the time they eventually arrived in Portofino, Andrew claims he was "in love".

"I loved talking music and I loved the looks I got from the waiters in our deserted hotel. And of course, I loved the sex," he confessed in his book. Things progressed rapidly between the two, and by the time the trip concluded, both knew they wanted to be together, yet were uncertain how to handle their respective marriages. They ultimately resolved to introduce one another to their mothers and see if they "survived the test", with the understanding that, should all go well, they would leave their spouses.

"It took two false starts before I told my wife I was leaving her," Andrew recalled. "If someone can be both devastated yet resigned, that's what she was. There were moments when I wavered."

He claimed that Sarah offered to turn a blind eye and allow him to conduct a relationship with the singer discreetly, in a bid to preserve their marriage, but Andrew knew he was unable to go through with such an arrangement. He and Sarah ultimately divorced in November 1983.

Shortly afterwards, in March 1984, Andrew married Sarah Brightman, with the couple exchanging vows in secret at a registry office in Kingsclere. Their romance was passionate but ultimately short-lived, with their marriage dissolving after six years in January 1990.

Sarah told People that the breakdown of their relationship was "not something [she] either wish for or have sought". She pledged to maintain a professional relationship with her former partner, and the two have remained on friendly terms ever since.

Just a few months after his second marriage collapsed, whispers began circulating that Andrew had grown increasingly close to equestrian Madeleine Gurdon, who rode in Princess Anne's circle. The pair had first met in 1989 through mutual acquaintances, at a point when his marriage to Sarah had turned "rocky".

They subsequently married in February 1991 at Westminster, going on to have three children together: Alastair (1992), William (1993), and Isabella (1996).