Howard Stern used sex to survive split

Howard Stern used sex as a "surrogate mother" when his marriage ended.

The 57-year-old DJ split from Alison Berns - with whom he has three daughters, Emily, 26, Debra, 24, and 17-year-old Ashley - after 21 years of marriage in 1999 and though he initially enjoyed the freedom of single life, he soon realised he was just seeking comfort from other women and the experiences began to feel "empty".

He said: "After my divorce, I realised, 'Oh, wow, I can go have sex.' And I was running around, picking up women. Then all of a sudden, it dawned on me that I really didn't need that much sex. I just wanted somebody with me every minute. I was using women as a surrogate mother.

"When I tapped into that, it suddenly became very childish behaviour. And really, was it so great f***ing every night? They're using me for my fame, I'm using them for their beauty, and the whole f***ing thing seemed empty."

While Howard admits to sleeping around after his marriage ended, he insists he would never have sex with a prostitute.

He admitted: "I'm too germophobic."

The controversial broadcaster - who has been married to model Beth Ostrosky for two years - admits he felt like a "failure" when he divorced Alison and knows he will still think about the reasons why their marriage broke down for the rest of his life.

He said in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine: "[Getting a divorce] felt like such a failure. It's so complicated, and it's hard for me even to figure out at this point what went wrong and how things that were so good could go so bad. It's tough. I think I'll spend the rest of my life trying to analyze that."