Could Guy Ritchie be going where Sean Penn, Warren Beatty, Jenny Shimizu and Vanilla Ice have gone before? Into Madonna‘s discard pile? The News of the World claims that Madonna, 49, and her director husband Guy, 39, have pulled the plug on their eight-year marriage. Madonna is making arrangements to move off her sprawling English estate and relocate to New York City, accompanied by her staff and three kids: Lourdes, 11; Rocco, 7; and David, 2. Guy will stay in London, where he’s purchased a pub with his buddies. The pub will be called Mid-Life Crisis’s.

For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, Madonna and Guy will keep up appearances for the next 18 months before announcing their split in fall ’09, according to the U.K. paper. By then, Madonna will have sucked all the sugar out of her new album, Hard Candy, and the world tour that’s expected to follow. But in the meantime, they’ll be able to enjoy all the whispers and speculation that get stirred up every time they do something separately. For example, when Madonna was inducted into the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame last Monday, Guy stayed home with the kids, horses and chickens on their London estate. Gossip ensued.

Madonna’s rep denies her client is either single or ready to mingle, but it seems like a breakup is inevitable. Madonna has done her best to keep this thing going. She showed an interest in what appears to be Guy’s only passion–pubs. And she stood by him during a long period of career stagnation. Guy, in turn, hasn’t gotten in between Madonna and her typically ambitious plans, such as adopting baby David from Malawi. But how could anyone stay married to Madonna? Every time she gives you a Vitamin B shot in the ass, your manhood dies a little.