Jamie Redknapp’s split from ex-wife Louise back in 2017 came as a shock to almost everyone, including his worried parents.
Football manager Harry Redknapp and wife Sandra were as surprised as anyone when the couple announced they were separating after 19 years together.
Admitting he was “choked” by the upsetting news, Harry confessed the split “came out of the view” from where he was standing.
Harry and Sandra had been a constant supporter of Louise over the years and were thrilled when she married their son in a quiet ceremony in Bermuda in 1998.
The former Eternal singer and Sky Sports football pundit seemed to have one of the strongest marriages in showbiz from the outside, but everything changed after Louise’s stint on Strictly Come Dancing.
During the 2016 series, Louise was partnered up with Kevin Clifton, leading Jamie’s A League Of Their Own pals to tease him over the infamous Strictly ‘curse’.
Jamie and Louise Redknapp were married between 1998 and 2017 (Image: Richard Young/REX/Shutterstock)
While rumours of sparks with Kevin were rubbish, Louise found a new lease of life on Strictly and vowed she would make a massive change in her life.
Louise confessed she feared never performing again and going back to her old life as a “Stepford wife”.
Having spent years constantly striving to always be the perfect wife and mother, devoting herself to her family, Louise was enjoying being in the limelight again.
“Standing by and watching Jamie become this entertainment star was pretty hard,” admitted Louise.
“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.”
After almost two decades of marriage, the pair finalised their divorce in December 2017.
Louise started hanging out with new pal Daisy Lowe (Image: PA)
Louise was said to have ‘thrown away the rule book’ as she embraced hanging out with new and younger pals, including model Daisy Lowe.
Meanwhile, Harry and Sandra reportedly voiced their concern over Louise’s behaviour, labelling it a ‘midlife’ crisis, according to a close source.
It was claimed that Louise’s mum had been left to look after their sons, Charley and Beau, on many occasions while both their parents were out of the house.
“They’ve been sad to see her partying hard with her new group of friends while Jamie has been filming A League of Their Own,’ an insider told The Sun.
“It’s meant Louise’s mum has been left to look after the kids many nights over the last few weeks.”
“She seems to be in the middle of a mid-life crisis, turning her back on many of the mutual friends she’s shared with Jamie to go out with people half her age.”
Harry still has a lot of love for Louise (Image: Daily Mirror)
Revealing how he really felt about the split in 2009, Harry admitted he thought the couple would be together forever.
He felt Louise was always happiest with her family and confessed he was sad that their marriage had not worked out.
The former Spurs and West Ham manager said: “I was choked. Absolutely. I just never ever ever could see that happening. I thought they were getting married forever. They were such a lovely couple together.
“It came completely as a shock, out of the blue. They were not a showbiz marriage if you like. Lou just did not want to be anywhere without Jamie. They were very very down to earth the pair of them. And yeah me and Sandra it was a shock when it happened. Very sad.
“Lou was happiest when she was with the kids, Jamie, the kids and the dogs. That was their life really. Walking the dogs, going with the kids everywhere.
“It’s difficult. No-one knows what goes on behind closed doors do they in life? So you don’t know. It is sad.”
Louise and Jamie split in 2017 following 19 years of marriage (Image: Getty Images)
Throughout the course of Louise and Jamie’s marriage, Harry and Sandra did not have any issues with their daughter-in-law and regularly praised her.
The I’m A Celebrity winner admitted he saw a different side to Louise to that which was portrayed by some of the media.
Writing in his 1998 autobiography, he said: “Songstress Louise, who married Jamie in Bermuda in July 1998, is the most down-to-earth girl you could hope to meet.
“She may be a pop-star temptress to the youngsters who read those laddish magazine but to me she’s just a lovely girl who’s married to my youngest son.
“Louise, who made it big with chart-toppers Eternal before becoming a major pop star in her own right, is the least showbizzy person you could imagine.
“She’s so quiet and shy away from the spotlight that I can’t believe she has the front to go live on stage in front of thousands of people.
“I see her in those glamorous videos for her latest record and find it impossible to reconcile the sexy image I see on screen with the Louise who comes to my home with Jamie for Sunday dinner.
“Jamie and her make a lovely couple, so Sandra and I were thrilled when the two of them got married. Jamie couldn’t have met a nicer girl. She’s a very caring person.”
Jamie and Louise with their boys Charley and Beau (Image: Jamie Redknapp/Instagram)
Revealing a personal story, Harry recalled the time Louise arrived late back to his family home in Bournemouth after a concert in Leicester in 1997.
Using this as an example of how “unpretentious” Louise was, Harry explained she rang to say she was going to be later because the backing group had to be dropped off in London first and didn’t arrive until 3am.
“I would have thought someone of her stature was entitled to demand to be taken care of first. But Louise is not like that. She’s not at all pushy,” said Harry
“I think I’m a good judge of character, Sandra too, and we recognise her as one of us. There’s no side to her, nothing big time about her at all. She’s just a lovely girl.”
There have been some hint from Harry that he thought the pair might get back together.
Harry, who has been married to wife Sandra for more than 50 years, insisted couples these days don’t try hard enough to keep their relationships together.
Harry and Sandra were thrilled when Jamie married Louise (Image: REX/Shutterstock)
“[In our day] you got married and unless something was drastically wrong, you stayed married…,” he said in an interview with You magazine in January 2019.
Sandra added: “I think it’s too easy now to not make a marriage work.”
But they still have a close relationship with Louise – with Harry vowing he would always support her in April last year.
“I want to see Lou do well obviously, I love Lou,” he told HELLO! magazine when asked why he was not seeing her on stage at the West End.
“I have no problems with Lou. Sandra loves her and Sandra speaks to her mum all the time.”
Wishing Louise all the best for her role in Dolly Parton musical 9 to 5, Harry explained why he would not be watching her perform.
“It’s not that I don’t want to see Louise in the show, it’s just that I don’t go to shows in the West End,” he added.
Harry and Sandra are still close with Louise (Image: Getty)
Harry has refused to speak about son Jamie’s new relationship with Swedish model Frida Andersson-Lourie out of respect for Louise.
He confirmed they had met Jamie’s “lovely” new woman but explained he did not want to upset Louise.
“The last thing I want to do is upset Lou. It is upsetting that Jamie and Lou aren’t together. It was a complete shock,” Harry told The Sun in August this year.
“We love Lou, we still speak to her of course. Sandra speaks to her mum.
“She is the mother of our grandkids and she’s still part of the family. But Jamie seems happy.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
