Madonna and Guy Ritchie have retreated to Los Angeles where they are patching things up after a bumpy period in their marriage, her father-in-law says in a magazine interview released Tuesday.

"L.A. seems to have helped them. It's easier out there because there is less pressure. They seem to have left the bumps they were having over here behind them," John Ritchie was quoted as saying in an interview with Closer magazine.

Reports of a rift in the marriage circulated recently, especially after the 47-year-old pop star didn't thank her filmdirector husband after winning a Brit Award in February.

"You can never know that things will work, but they do seem to be fitting into each other more," John Ritchie was quoted as saying.

"They have put everything behind them and have gone to L.A. to enjoy themselves. They're able to go home at night and be together. They both want to see the children. They are going to have a good time out there and be a family."

Ritchie, 37, and Madonna have a son, Rocco, 5, and the singer also has a daughter, Lourdes, 9. The couple were married Dec. 22, 2000.

"It's the children that will keep them together. The children are everything to them," John Ritchie told the magazine.

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