Singer Seal is refusing to remove his wedding ring after his split from Heidi Klum because it will forever serve as a token of respect for his former partner.

The "Kiss From a Rose" star and his wife of eight years stunned the world when they confirmed reports of a split at the weekend, but the Brit admits there is still a lot of love between them.

In a taped interview with Ellen DeGeneres, which will air on her U.S. show on Tuesday, Seal says, "I am still wearing my ring.  I think it’s just pretty much a token of how I feel about this woman. We have eight years. Eight wonderful years together."

"Just because we have decided to separate doesn’t necessarily mean you take off your ring and you’re no longer connected to that person. We will be connected in many ways ‘til the rest of our lives (sic)... through our children and also through this tremendous admiration, respect and love that we have for each other."

"Will we wear the ring for the rest of our lives? Who knows? But right now it feels really comfortable on my hand, so I have no intentions of taking it off anytime soon."

Meanwhile, Seal admits he was as shocked as everyone else when he realised the marriage was over.

He adds, "You go into these things with the greatest intentions when you say 'I do' and you say ’til death do us part'. Those vows hold value. They are not just words. These things happen. You just grow apart after a while. You try and you work through it."

"We still very much love each other... It’s a shame. To say that neither of us were grieving would be an out and out lie. I think the operative here is that we are civil to each other and we both have a tremendous amount of respect and love and we try and do this with as much dignity as we possibly can."