Sophie Ellis-Bextor turned off by workshy men

Sophie Ellis-Bextor wouldn't date an unsuccessful man.

The 'Murder on the Dancefloor' singer, who is married to The Feeling star Richard Jones, insists she couldn't be happy with someone who didn't have their own career.

When asked why their relationship works, she said: "We're both passionate about our work and its better to be married to successful happy people than people who have too much time on their hands. And I think it helps that we like each other."

The couple - who have two sons, Sonny, five and Kit, three months - have also instigated ground rules in their relationship to make sure they don't focus too much on their careers.

Bassist Richard, who married Sophie in June 2005, explained to BANG Showbiz: "We're very similar and our relationship is not particularly hard because we have a two week rule. Whenever we go on tour or were away, we make sure we always find the time to see each other at least every two weeks."

Meanwhile, Sophie has spoken out about the premature birth of Kit - who was two months early - saying his arrival was "a surprise".

She added: "It was a surprise and in the beginning it was very hard but we were lucky because we'd had it with Sonny and fortunately it's all turned out OK."