Louise Redknapp has opened up about her “devastating” divorce from ex-husband Jamie Redknapp.
The singer, who split from the former footballer in 2017 after 19 years together, admits she still doesn’t know what went wrong with her marriage.
In an interview with Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan on Friday’s This Morning, Louise also revealed the split was particularly hard on the couple’s children, Charles, 15, and Beau, 10.
Asked what went wrong with the relationship, Louise said: “I wish I knew, it was a really sad time, it was really sad and devastating for the whole family and when there are children involved, it’s something that takes a long time to get over.”
The 44-year-old address elements of her former marriage and subsequent split on her new solo album Heavy Love, her first record in 18 years.
“I never went into making the album with it being about that, because you don’t,” Louise said.
“But naturally when you’re writing and you’re in the studio and it’s your safe haven you naturally pour your heart out, that is your safe place.
“So I would say there are definitely songs on the album, never bashing, it’s not about being over personal, it’s how I felt, just as a woman, as a mum, as a wife.”
Explaining why there was an 18-year gap between her records, she said: “I think it was just life, life got in the way. I got married, I had a family.
“Then as time goes on the industry changes so much and you think is anyone going to be interested? You need something to happen for there to be a reason and I suppose it wasn’t meant to be 18 years, it just happened that way.”
Earlier this year, Louise addressed the media fallout which came after her split from Jamie, admitting she thinks she was judged too harshly.
The former Strictly star revealed that this period came with its own difficulties, most notably the “double standard” in the way she was perceived compared with Jamie.
“I was heavily judged. I was really shocked by how people would just make assumptions,” she said, specifically referencing a news story in which Jamie was praised for taking their children on holiday.
“I did notice real double-standards… I was like: ‘Well, hang on a minute. I’ve done this for the last 15 years and no one has ever patted me on the back.’”
On why she chose not to speak out at the time, Louise continued: “I wasn’t going to play the social media game of putting my kids on Instagram every time they were with me to prove it. I’m not going to try and prove myself as a mum or a woman.”