Los Angeles, April 10 (IANS): Actor Antonio Banderas says his new girlfriend Nicole Kimpel was not the "motive" for his split from his wife Melanie Griffith.

The 54-year-old actor met his current girlfriend at last year's Cannes International Film Festival, but insists things didn't get romantic between them until he and his wife separated shortly afterwards.

"Nicole was not the motive of my divorce. I met her at the Cannes Festival last year but we both knew where we were. I was still a married man, although things were already heading the way they have now ended up."

"Nicole told me, 'You've got to solve your problems first, then we'll see'. So, there's no direct connection to my break-up with another woman, it's not like that," Banderas said.

"Once I had the divorce documents signed, we (me and Nicole) started to get to know each other, and then the relationship started," Banderas told Spain's Hola! magazine, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

The "Puss in Boots" actor is thankful that his 19-year marriage to Griffith ended in a "very natural" way without animosity.

"With Melanie all is good, thank God. Our marriage has finished in a very natural way, there were no ashtrays thrown to the head," the actor said.