Why we need to STOP slamming Louise Redknapp for marriage woes – relationships do go wrong, she hasn’t fallen for another man and she’s got a right to pursue her passions
WHEN Louise Redknapp made the decision to call time on her marriage to football hero husband Jamie, it was, she said, “the most difficult thing I’ve ever done".
Little did she realise that ending it would turn her into public enemy number one.
In the months since she moved out of their multi-million-pound mansion, she has been trolled on a daily basis, and branded “selfish and pathetic”.
As Louise admitted to me when I interviewed her: “It’s very hard when you have problems in your relationship and it’s hard to confront those problems. But things happen and you have to be honest.
“I really just cannot understand why people would have such an issue. It is beyond me and it is very upsetting.”
Let’s put this into perspective. The reason why Louise moved out of the family home was not because she had fallen for another man and cheated on her husband.
It was because after 19 years of marriage and two sons (Charley, 13 and nine-year-old Beau) she wanted the chance to go back to performing after regaining her confidence when she took part in Strictly Come Dancing exactly a year ago.
When she made it to the final of Strictly (she came second to Ore Oduba) she was offered the chance to play Sally Bowles in a touring production of Cabaret alongside singer Will Young.
Her husband, Jamie, suggested they try for baby number three. Louise – who gave up her music career when she had their first child 13 years ago – opted to go back to the stage.
Surely in 2017, we should understand that a 43-year-old woman has the right to pursue her passion?
After all she was just a teenager when she became part of one of Britain’s biggest ever girl bands – Eternal – and in her early twenties she went on to become a multi-million selling solo performer.
Yet she gave all of this up to raise a family and swapped pop stardom for the school run and supporting her famous husband.
To her credit she has been nothing but honest. “I became a sort of Stepford Wife, wanting to be perfect at it,” she told me in her first interview since their split.
“It was only when I agreed to do Strictly Come Dancing I realised I couldn’t just go back to that," she said.
“Strictly did change me because it made me get my confidence back. It made me realise who I really was.
“I have spent time thinking I should always do the right thing by staying at home, looking after my kids and my husband. I lost myself.
“I think this happens to a lot of women when they get married and have children. You have this feeling deep inside you: ‘Where did I go?’
“I wanted to go back to work on a stage in front of an audience. I actually felt physically sick at the idea that I’d never have that buzz again, that fulfilment I get from performing.
“And that is when the sh*t the fan. No-one could understand why it was so desperately important to me.”
On social media and amongst celebrity influencers, Louise has been pilloried for wanting to go back to work, wanting to express herself and wanting to regain the passion that took her from a council flat in South London to performing in from of hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.
Whereas in reality thousands of women have expressed their support for Louise because so many women have found themselves in exactly the same position.
When she joined Strictly, the model Daisy Lowe, 28, became one of her closest friends and supporters.
It was Daisy who told her she was beautiful, Daisy who encouraged her to believe in herself and Daisy who acted as her greatest “cheerleader” in her transformation from confidence lost to confidence regained.
And it has been Daisy too who has - instead of being congratulated for standing by her friend and encouraging her to follow her dreams – been cast as another villain in the story.
As one of their circle said: “It’s just unreal. One strong woman makes another woman stronger and all that happen is they both get completely and utterly blasted for it.”
Daisy has admitted that people have assumed they are having a lesbian relationship because “people don’t seem to want to celebrate women having empowering, supportive relationships.”
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Ironically – as speculation grows as to whether they will indeed be divorced by Christmas – it is Louise who has continued to wear her wedding ring long after Jamie removed his (it was significantly absent when he appeared on Celebrity Gogglebox last month).
It is also Jamie who has been pictured out and about with other women.
A friend close to Louise said: “Marriage break ups are tough but they are a reality for hundreds of thousands of people. Louise cannot believe how fast people have jumped to blame her.
“She could very easily have said nothing and continued living a lovely life with designer clothes and foreign holidays but that just wasn’t fulfilling for her.
“She has supressed who she really is for such a long time and it’s a shame that she couldn’t be herself and stay married to Jamie.
“Louise has never before described herself as a feminist but this whole experience has made her feel very strongly that women deserve more.
“She has been deeply upset by some of that has been said but she’s staying strong and refusing to be put down any more. All she cares about are her sons and being true to herself.
“That is the lesson she wants them to learn from this. You have to be who you are."
Meanwhile, Louise has joined Rebecca Adlington and Camilla Thurlow in supporting Children In Need.
And, has posted an adorable birthday message to her son Beau online.