Louise Redknapp is ready to start dating again 3 years after Jamie split – because her son, 15, says it’s OK
LOUISE Redknapp is ready to find love again after her teenage son Charley gave her the go-ahead.
The singer has been single since the breakdown of her 19-year marriage to football ace turned sports pundit Jamie Redknapp in 2017.
Mum-of-two Louise, 45, said it has been the toughest time of her life and she hasn’t spent a day alone in the past year as she “struggles” to cope on her own.
She said: “I’m very single at the moment, which is not a good thing.
“My eldest is 15 and super-protective over me. But he knows he can talk to me about anything and doesn’t need to be embarrassed, I’m so open.
“One morning he said to me, ‘If you ever did want to go on a date, I’d be OK with it’.
“It was actually a big moment as he’d always been quite vocal that I’d never go on a date.
“They always hope their mum and dad will work things out.”
On her divorce from Jamie, Louise said: “It’s been really tough. I’m a real softie, and I still want to be his best friend, which is impossible.
“It was like watching someone else’s life unfold — it was almost like I wasn’t really present when it happened. And I think anybody who’s been through a divorce knows that it kind of comes and goes, like a grieving process.
“I try to be positive because it happened and I was OK with it happening but it doesn’t make it any easier. The kind of person I am, it would never be easy for me. It would never be water off a duck’s back. It will always mean something.
“I’ve known Jamie since I was a teenager. He was my everything, and suddenly he wasn’t any more. It’s a tough thing to go through.”
Louise was introduced to Jamie by mutual pal and Take That star Robbie Williams when she was in successful Nineties girl band, Eternal.
At the time, she was more famous than the England and Liverpool midfielder.
Jamie proposed in Bermuda in 1998 and they married on the beach the same week.
They had been hailed for having one of the strongest marriages in showbusiness, never tainted by allegations of cheating. But cracks began to appear after Louise’s stint on Strictly Come Dancing in 2016 when she was partnered with show lothario Kevin Clifton.
At the time he was married to fellow pro dancer Karen.
But his close friendship with Louise caused tension with his wife, who was said to have warned Jamie in a phone call.
‘I hate being on my own – I struggle’
The couple denied rumours of marital problems but, ten months after the show ended, Jamie and Louise announced they had separated and that she had moved out of the family home.
She filed for divorce on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour and it was finalised in a 25-second court hearing in December 2017.
Louise later said: “I have spent most of my life pleasing everyone else, worrying about being judged and thinking I should always do the right thing by staying at home, looking after my kids and my husband. I lost myself.”
Louise and Jamie, 46, now live a few miles apart in Surrey and share custody of their sons. They remain on friendly terms and speak regularly.
Family and friends have taken it in turns to stay with Louise when their sons Charley and 11-year-old Beau are visiting Jamie.
She said: “My mum moved in with me, my brother moved in with me, my friend moved in with me. I don’t think I spent a day on my own for a year actually. I struggle to now. I hate being on my own.
“Actually if I know I’m getting up in the morning with no one there, I get terrible anxiety.
“For 20 years, I was not on my own. And the hardest thing is when the kids aren’t with me, it’s an empty existence.”
Louise hasn’t ruled out getting married again but reckons regular dating apps such as Tinder and Hinge are useless because men will be deterred by her age and famous ex-husband.
Louise, who has starred in West End shows Cabaret and 9 To 5: The Musical, added: “This is the thing with the dating apps — who’s gonna put my age group in the app? No man is going to put my age in.
“It’s going to be a waste of time. I think all the men are like, ‘Too much baggage!’ ” But when a potential partner does come into her life, Louise says she will be open with her sons.
She said: “I did say to [the boys], ‘If I ever met someone and I want to see them again, and it feels comfortable and right, I will tell you and I’ll be honest. I will tell you before anyone else.
‘I’m lucky I’m able to do the job I do’
“ ‘I’ll never pretend they are friends or work colleagues. I don’t want you to be suspicious’. I’m very honest with my kids.”
In October The Sun on Sunday revealed that Louise had a drunken snog with former footballer and model John Halls, 38.
She is said to have called things off after discovering he was still in touch with an ex-girlfriend. Jamie is thought to be single, though he was linked to model Lizzie Bowden in June 2019.
While the last three years have been difficult for Louise, she says “everything falling apart” gave her the courage to return to music after 20 years.
She released album Heavy Love in January and it reached No11 in the charts.
But Louise had to cancel the remainder of her UK tour in March because of the pandemic.
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The star has credited her ex-husband for being a supportive dad, which allowed her to pursue a solo career.
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She said: “I’m really lucky. I’m actually able to do the job I do because Jamie is so happy to share everything with me.
“I have friends who don’t have that so I’m really lucky. He’s hands on. He’s great.”
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