Louise and Jamie Redknapp seemed to have one of the strongest marriages in showbiz – until they became one of the highest profile victims of the so called ‘Strictly curse’.
But since their shock split in 2017, the former couple have made sure to remain on the best of terms for the sake of their two sons, Charley and Beau.
And now it’s been reported former Liverpool star Jamie has fallen for a new woman – Swedish model, Frida Andersson-Lourie.
The rumoured couple are said to have bonded over their children and while pals insist it’s early days, Jamie and Frida are believed to be falling hard.
A source told The Sun: “Jamie feels ready to move on from his marriage to Louise and is happy to be doing it with someone who has kids too and is financially secure.
“It’s early days for Jamie and Frida, but they have grown close and are really enjoying spending time together when they can.”
His ex-wife, Louise, has broken her silence after rumours of Jamie’s relationship surfaced and it seems she’s happy that her former husband has moved on.
Louise is enjoying a sunshine break with her two sons and took to Instagram to reassure fans she was more than happy with the news about Jamie.
She said: “The sun makes me happy.”
Jamie and Louise had hugely successful careers when they met – she was a pop star and he was a talented Premier League footballer.
The loved up couple tied the knot when Louise was just 23. Instead of a glitzy celeb bash, they opted for a quiet ceremony while on holiday in Bermuda in 1998.
Heartbreak followed for Louise and Jamie as they struggled to get pregnant.
Louise was diagnosed with the painful condition endometriosis, which makes it difficut to conceive, just a year into their marriage.
But six years after they wed, Jamie and former Eternal singer Louise welcomed their first son, Charley.
It was the happy ending to a four year battle to become parents and the couple were overjoyed when their youngest son, Beau, completed their family in 2009.
When Jamie retired from professional football, he carved out a successful career as a presenter and pundit.
Meanwhile, Louise devoted her time to caring for their young family, having turned her back on the celebrity lifestyle.
Jamie and Louise looked like they had one of the strongest marriages in showbiz.
But then, in 2016, Louise joined the Strictly Come Dancing line-up, where she was partnered with Kevin Clifton.
The singer and her professional dance partner hit it off instantly and their chemistry and stunning moves on the dancefloor earned them a place in the final of the BBC competition.
Jamie’s pals, including James Corden, Freddie Flintoff and Jack Whitehall, relentlessly teased him about the so-called Strictly ‘curse’.
At the time Louise said: “I could see Jamie getting angrier and angrier with the jokes.”
But she insisted the couple laughed off any suggestion she would cheat.
In the early days of rehearsals, Louise – already mum to boys Beau and Charley – shared hopes that her partner might have some influence in extending the Redknapp brood.
Dubbing Kevin the ‘fertility king,’ Louise joked about the conspiracy that Kevin could lead to her and Jamie having a daughter as his last two partners – Frankie Bridge and Kellie Bright – fell pregnant shortly after the show.
“Maybe he’s the good luck charm I need to get that girl I really want,” Louise told The Sun.
“Jamie would love another baby, I’m not getting any younger so we’ll see what happens. But I’m in Strictly shape now so we’ll see.”
After years away from the spotlight, what the former Eternal singer did find in the competition was a new lease of confidence.
Louise hailed Strictly her ‘saviour’ and revelled in returning to the stage after 12 years of ‘doing the mum thing’ – with Kevin acting as a constant source of support.
As the competition heated up, Louise and Kevin grew even closer with the pair training for hours each day and wowing audiences with their routines every Saturday night.
And while both rubbished rumours of any spark between them, it didn’t stop the wagging tongues.
Then, just months after she reached the finals of Strictly, Louise’s marriage to Jamie crumbled.
She admitted in an emotional interview that her appearance on the show had made her re-evaluate her entire life.
Louise said she had grown tired of being a “Stepford wife”, striving to always be the perfect wife and mum.
She added: “I wanted kids so much, I was happy to put everything on hold for them.”
But as Jamie’s media career had bloomed, Louise admitted she had struggled with his success and missed being a performer.
She said, “Standing by and watching Jamie become this entertainment star was pretty hard. I was proud of him, but there was part of me thinking, ‘that’s my world’. I could see the excitement he got out of it and I knew how that felt. But it wasn’t me feeling it anymore.”
And once she started Strictly, she felt ‘physically sick’ at the thought she’d never perform again.
Louise initially confirmed the couple were living apart in October and filed for divorce in December 2017.
And it was not the only chance Louise made. She relaunched her career, releasing new music and appearing in the West End.
Describing her decision to leave Jamie and restart her career as the “first selfish thing I’ve done”, she admitted that although nobody “understood”, she felt like she’s finally “come back to who I really am”.
Heartbreakingly, despite their close relationship on Strictly, Louise and Kevin no longer speak.
Louise and Kevin were last pictured together in December 2018, when the singer was invited to meet up with her former Strictly partner and his parents for the annual Clifton’s Dance Academy Annual Christmas Ball in Grimsby.