Heather breaks her silence to insist: 'I'm not a gold-digger'

The soon-to-be ex-Lady McCartney claims '85 per cent of my income goes to charity'

Heather Mills, the estranged wife of Sir Paul McCartney, has claimed that she will never marry again, in her first interview since the official announcement of their split.

The divorce battle has been an exceptionally savage one, with aides on both sides leaking details of the demise of their marriage.

Tabloid newspapers have portrayed her as a hate figure and the person behind the break-up with the millionaire former Beatle. But in a television interview to be aired in the US this week, the soon to be ex-Lady McCartney says that strangers show their support for her by hugging her in the street

Speaking on the Warner Bros show Extra, the once- topless model says: "I have had so much public support ... people hugging me in the streets ... I didn't know that many people cared. You get to know who your friends are, and I haven't lost any friends."

Refusing to discuss the bitter fight with Sir Paul directly, she says she is a good mother and denies a relationship with her personal trainer Ben Amigoni.

"I'm a good mother, I'm a good person. I fell in love for the right reason. I fell in love unconditionally. I haven't got a lover. At the moment, I'm focusing on my daughter."

Lady McCartney also insists the media's perception of her as cold is inaccurate. "Of course I have a sense of humour ... People don't get to see that side of me."

She denies she is a gold-digger: "Eighty-five per cent of my income goes to my charity. The word gold-digger doesn't go with that ... If I was a gold-digger, I would have a lot of money in my bank account ... I'd be worth millions and millions."

If reports are to be believed, Sir Paul and Heather are both determined to win custody of their daughter, three-year-old Bea. In her television appearance, the 38-year-old lists her greatest accomplishment as being a mother. "I tried for a long, long time ... two ectopic pregnancies and six miscarriages. They told me I could never have children."

As to how her relationship with her parents, and her childhood, which she said "was a crazy awful childhood", had shaped her as a mother, she says: "It's made me so protective ... She is my greatest accomplishment."

As for her future, her plans include developing a vegan fast-food chain and vegan food markets.

The full interview will be broadcast on Tuesday and Wednesday in the US, but it is not known if it will ever be aired in the UK. The show is being promoted with the line: "Why you'll never look at Heather in the same way again."