Seal sat down with Ellen DeGeneres to talk about his separation from wife Heidi Klum (video), telling her you “do the best that you can” when you’re a parent.

Of Klum, he shares that he’s so proud of her as she’s “given me four incredible gifts: four beautiful children. She still, in my opinion, is the most wonderful woman in the world,” he added. “I think our priority was to remain civil and do this thing with dignity and we still very much love each other…”

Seal also shared that they “hope and pray that the rest of the world will respect that we have four children and their little hearts are at stake too.”

When asked why he’s still wearing his wedding ring, Seal told Ellen: “I am still wearing my ring. I think it’s just pretty much a token of how I feel about this woman. We have eight years. Eight wonderful years together. Just because we have decided to separate doesn’t necessarily mean that you take off your ring and you’re no longer connected to that person.”

He added, “We will be connected in many ways throughout our lives.”

Seal said for now “it feels really comfortable on my hand, so I have no intention of taking it off anytime soon.”

Seal and Klum have four children: Leni, 7, Henry, 6, Johan, 5, and Lou, 2.