Louise Redknapp’s heartbreaking regret as she ‘blamed Jamie for self-esteem issues’
Louise and Jamie Redknapp had been married for 19 years when the couple, long thought to have one of the strongest marriages in showbusiness, divorced
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Louise Redknapp stunned her fans and the celebrity world when she announced her marriage to husband Jamie was over.
The popstar and former Premier League player had tied the knot 19 years earlier and seemed to have one of the strongest marriages in showbiz.
Ex-Eternal singer Louise was just 23 when she and Jamie married while on holiday in Bermuda in 1998, shunning a glitzy celeb bash, they opted for a quiet ceremony.
But the newly-weds were left heartbroken just a year into their marriage when they struggled to get pregnant after Louise was diagnosed with the painful condition endometriosis, which makes it difficut to conceive.
However, they were over-the-moon in 2004 when they welcomed their first son, Charley, with Beau completing their family in 2009.
Louise turned her back on the celebrity lifestyle and threw all her energy into being the perfect wife and mum.
Meanwhile, after retiring as a professional footballer, Jamie carved out a successful career as a pundit and TV star.
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.”
As she progressed in the competition, Louise gained confidence and realised she was desperately missing the limelight.
Hailing Strictly her ‘saviour’ she loved being back on stage and in the public eye after 12 years of ‘doing the mum thing’.
As the competition heated up, Louise and Kevin grew ever 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.
“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.”
Louise admitted that the thought of never performing again made her feel ‘physically sick’.
She initially confirmed the couple were living apart in October and filed for divorce in December 2017.
But the singer, presenter and actress has one heartbreaking regret about the breakdown of her marriage – not letting Jamie know how she was feeling sooner.
She admitted she realised she had been struggling with the way her life had turned out before she joined the Strictly line up.
Speaking to the Mail On Sunday, Louise said: “I wish, three years ago, I’d been able to just speak up. For a long time it was easy to blame him.
“In the past six months, I’ve thought, you know what, it was down to me to say, ‘something’s not right. My self-esteem is really struggling. I’ve got no passion. I love my kids more than anything in the world’.
“I love what I do, too, and I haven’t quite got the guts to go out and try to do it again.”
Mum-of-two Louise confessed she should have been the one to tell Jamie how she was feeling but says she “just didn’t speak up”.
She added: “I wish I’d just gone, ‘right, the kids are getting older, and I love my job and I’m going to give it a real go, and Jamie, if you don’t like it, tough. But if you do like it, let’s talk about it’.”
Three years after his divorce from Louise it has now been reported that Jamie has moved on with 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.”
And his ex-wife seems to be happy that her former husband appears to have found love again.
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.
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