Phil Collins has handed over US$47.5 million (£25 million) to his third wife in the biggest-ever divorce payout by a British showbiz star.

The massive settlement beats the £24.3million Paul McCartney recently handed over to Heather Mills.

Genesis singer Phil, 57, has given the huge cash sum to Swiss beauty Orianne Cevey, 35, after just six years of marriage and two children.

And it is not the first time Phil has had to give away large chunks of his cash.

In 1994 he gave his second wife Jill Tavelman £17million after famously dumping her by fax.

It means he has now paid out more than £42million almost a third of his £140million fortune.

A music industry source said: “Marriage has certainly not come cheap for Phil. He has now made two of the biggest divorce payments in showbiz history.

“At least no one can accuse him of leaving his ex-wives short. When you compare what he’s paid out relative to his own fortune the figures are enormous.”

Orianne even got a much bigger percentage of Phil’s fortune than Heather Mills got from Sir Paul. The divorce payout came to light in the latest accounts for Phil’s personal management company, Philip Collins Ltd.

He met Orianne on tour when she was just 22 and he was still married to Jill. They set up home in Geneva and were together for five years before their lavish three-day wedding.