Louise Redknapp says she regrets taking part in Strictly

Louise Redknapp has revealed her regret over taking part in the 2016 edition of Strictly Come Dancing because it led to the end of her marriage.

The singer, 46, suggested she looks back on the experience with remorse as it ultimately ended her marriage to former soccer star Jamie Redknapp.

In her new book, You’ve Got This, she explains: ‘If I’d done the show four years earlier, this wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t have walked away from my marriage.’

Louise, who was partnered with Kevin Clifton, said that taking part in the show ‘simply wasn’t worth putting anyone I loved or love through the heartache’.

The mum of two – who has Beau, 12, and Charley, 16, with her ex-husband – thinks she would have been ‘too scared’ to leave Jamie if she hadn’t taken part in the show.

However, she also believes that it has reignited her career and opened up new opportunities for her.

She said: ‘I still wish I’d done things differently because I feel like I hurt a lot of people and I’ll always be sorry for that.’

Louise also cryptically suggests she shouldn’t have put her trust in some people, and said: ‘I felt like certain people had my back, and, in hindsight this wasn’t really the case. 

‘I was so scared about going back to normal life and losing what I’d achieved on the show.’

Louise previously admitted she’d contemplated suicide amid her split from her husband.

The pop star revealed she thought about stepping in front of a bus at one point during their split.

Louise – who was married to Jamie between 1998 and 2018 – shared: ‘I would be standing in Central London and would wonder whether it would be easier for a bus to take me out.

‘All it would take was for me to step out at the wrong moment and it would be over.’ 

It comes following claims that Louise can reportedly see herself ‘getting married again’ after ‘clearing toxic energy from the past’.

According to new reports, Louise would like ‘another chance’ at getting a ‘happy ending’ after splitting from Jamie in 2017.

Louise is said to feel ‘healed’ and her ‘energy shifted’ after candidly discussing her marriage.

A source told Heat: ‘Louise doesn’t want to get messed around. She’s got a list of requirements – mainly that he’s self-sufficient, secure in himself and trustworthy. 

‘She’s serious about moving on, and has said that clearing all that toxic energy from the past has made her realise she could see herself getting married again. She’d like another chance at getting her happy ending.

‘Lou says speaking about her marriage has really helped to heal her. Since releasing her book, her energy has completely shifted. She doesn’t want to be forever defined by her failed marriage, or seem as though she can’t let go of the past.’ 

However, a representative for Louise vehemently denied the new reports when contacted by MailOnline for a comment.

It comes after Louise’s ex was spotted packing on the PDA with his Swedish model girlfriend Frida Andersson on Monday.

Jamie’s relationship is thought to be the pundit’s first since his split from Louise, with whom he shares two sons, after 19 years of marriage. Jamie and Frida have been linked since August.

Earlier this month, Louise admitted that she is ‘still working’ on herself after putting on ‘so much pressure’ to be a ‘certain way’ for 20 years.

Talking in a candid interview on BBC Morning Live, the singer also insisted that a new romance isn’t her priority and she isn’t on any dating apps after splitting from ex-husband Jamie.

During the interview, Louise was asked by hosts Kym Marsh and Gethin Jones whether she had any advice for people currently going through a break-up.

To which the singer, who was promoting her new book You’ve Got This, admitted she has put ‘pressure’ on herself over the years, she said: ‘I spend a lot of time in the book talking about this. 

‘I called it, You’ve Got This, I dedicated it by saying ‘to anybody who thinks they may be getting things wrong’. I think it’s the pressure we put on ourselves. 

‘I feel I’ve constantly for 20 odd years put so much pressure on myself to be a certain way and please everyone, not offend, keep on smiling.

‘In the book, I talk about it’s okay to take time for you and I know it’s a bit cliche, everybody says it, but it’s actually harder to do. We all say the words, it’s not sometimes that easy to just be proud of you.

‘It takes a long time to achieve that, I’m still working on it. I think just giving yourself that time and space, no pressure…’

Louise also spoke about her love life during the interview and insisted that finding a new man isn’t the top of her priority.

She said: ‘It has obviously been a long time since I was single, do you know what I find, what I wrote about in the book and what I found, it’s on everybody’s tongue: ‘Are you with anybody, have you met anybody?’

‘I feel until I’m actually with somebody and say: ‘Yep, present him, this is him’ I feel like everyone is going to think: ‘Oh, is she okay? Is she not okay?”

Louise insisted that she isn’t on any dating apps and that she is happy being single at the moment due to her busy career and raising her two sons Charles, 16, and Beau, 12, who she shares with ex Jamie. 

She continued: ‘I really want to concentrate on what I do and the kids for a while. It’s been really nice to have a bit of time, if Mr Right turns up, I’m not going to bat him away but it’s not at the forefront of my mind.

‘They’re [her two sons] brilliant, they’re with me a lot and they keep me busy. Between that, music, writing, all that stuff, it’s busy!’ 

It comes after the Heavy Love hitmaker recently revealed her dating woes as she tries to find love again, three years after her split from ex-husband Jamie.

Louise explained in an extract from her book that after speaking to one man she was ghosted, still not receiving a reply after five entire months. 

And while saying that the ‘new world of dating is difficult to navigate’, the star did add that her teenage son Charley, 16, has been giving her some advice. 

Reflecting on her dating woes, Louise explained how she’d been talking to one man for a while but after telling him she was going on a bike ride, the messages stopped.

According to The Sun, Louise wrote: ‘It’s been five months and no reply. I’m just sitting here wondering what was it that I said? Are bike rides that unattractive?

‘Basically, this is a way to say the new world of dating is so opaque and difficult to navigate.’