Mariah Carey has a shoulder to cry on following her divorce

Mariah Carey has reportedly turned to Brett Ratner for a shoulder to cry on following the breakdown of her and Nick Cannon's marriage last month.

The 44-year-old singer has allegedly been spending a lot of time with the film director, 45, to help take her mind off the breakdown of her six-year marriage.

A source told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: ''They speak frequently.''

Carey and Ratner struck up a friendship after he directed her music videos for Heartbreaker and We Belong Together and have remained close ever since.

The Hero hitmaker joined Ratner at the premiere of Hercules, which he directed, in July and it's believed the pair also holidayed together in Aspen in December. Meanwhile, Cannon confirmed he'd split from Carey in August following months of their relationship being on the rocks, but insisted their main priority at the moment is their three-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe.

He said at the time: ''There is trouble in paradise. We have been living in separate houses for a few months. My main focus is my kids.''

 Friends believed cracks started to appear in the pair's relationship when Cannon, 33, revealed that he'd previously slept with five famous women, including Kim Kardashian West, during an appearance on a radio show in March, which left Carey feeling ''humiliated.''

However, the America's Got Talent host took to Twitter earlier this month to silence rumours and insist he will always love and support Carey. He tweeted: ''I will always love her unconditionally for this and so much more. @MariahCarey is an amazing Mother and I trust her wholeheartedly... (sic).'' He added: ''So to see false reports in the media stating otherwise is absurd! While I would like to remain silent I can no longer allow this to happen. (sic).''