A look inside Russell Crowe's divorce auction

But that’s what Hollywood actor Russell Crowe and his soon to be ex-wife Danielle Spencer are doing, partnering with Sotheby’s to sell personal items valued at £1m.

A total 227 of them are now for sale to the highest bidder, including Crowe’s massive guitar collection, Spencer’s jewellery and dozens of movie props.

“I’m a collector so the things that I’ve bought I’ve bought with a passionate eye, you know? It hasn’t just been random,” Crowe said.

Asked how he managed to maintain such a large number of objects, which include life-size prop horses and carriages, the Gladiator actor said he “actually bought a pub in the bush and opened a little museum to house it all”.

“It’s definitely a cathartic experience, you know, going through this. But actually, curating the collection has been really joyful,” he said.

“We didn’t just start doing this a couple of weeks ago, we’ve been doing it for 12 months.”

The couple split in 2012 after nearly a decade together, but have only now decided to go through with the divorce.

“She’s put a whole bunch of stuff into the auction herself,” Crowe said of the collection they called The Art Of Divorce.

“It’s one of the things that you learn, well that I learned, is you have to love people the way they want to be loved, not what is love to you.

“And my job would always take me away and I was travelling continuously and that puts a lot of strain on a relationship, particularly when there’s babies involved.

“One of those things that you get into the routine of appeasing the distances is with gifts, you know? And Danielle is a very simple person, she didn’t need that much stuff.”

When asked about what he would do with the money from the auction, the 53-year-old said he wasn’t sure.

“I have no real specific use for it,” he said.

“I know I’m going to buy some incubators for turtles for a project that’s going on in Queensland. But apart from I haven’t really thought about that, you know?

“But money is useful, money is fun.”