Pop star Madonna is set to go public on her relationship with lover Alex Rodriguez at the end of the year.

Sources close to the 50-year-old say that she plans to confirm her relationship with the 33–year-old baseball star when her Sticky & Sweet tour concludes on 21 December.

Madonna and Rodriguez were first rumoured to be seeing each other earlier this year when they were spotted together on several occasions in New York. Since then both of them have filed for divorce from their significant partners.

An insider told The Sunday Mirror: "Alex is bewitched by her. She is a very intoxicating woman and it seems she has offered him a pathway to happiness and enlightenment through Kabbalah.

"He thinks she is phenomenal, but his friends aren't sure they have much in common. And she loves the fact that he is a huge star in his own right — and the physical attraction is undeniably strong.

"It was very important to her to have her new relationship sanctioned by the Kabbalah Centre and they have done this as Guy has been retreating from the 'faith' and is no longer considered her 'soul mate'.

"Elders have advised her that splitting from Guy is the correct decision as A-Rod is more attuned to her spiritual needs.

"Madonna's interest in Kabbalah has gone beyond that of most fervent believers … it is easy to see why Guy accused her of being indoctrinated.

"It became clear that Guy was retreating from Kabbalah some time ago — his initial enthusiasm for it was to please Madonna, and he never fully integrated it into his life as she so desperately wanted him to.

"He also began to have issues with the fact that their children were so heavily involved in the Kabbalah for Kids programmes.

"Madonna was hugely impressed that A-Rod was so open to new concepts and abstract thinking — and after seeking advice from her spiritual counsellors, it seemed she'd been told A-Rod might be more 'attuned to her needs' than Guy.

"It is very unlikely she would have ended her marriage had her 'church' leaders insist she fight for it."