Louise Redknapp has admitted that she would not have got divorced had it not been for her time on Strictly Come Dancing.
The singer appeared on the BBC competition series in 2016, where she reached the final with professional dancer Kevin Clifton.
The following year, Louise announced her split from footballer Jamie Redknapp, who she had been married to for 19 years.
Writing in her new autobiography You’ve Got This: And Other Things I Wish I Had Known, Louise said that she would have been “too scared” to leave her marriage had Strictly not set her on a “new path”.
“If I’d done the show four years earlier, this wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t have walked away from my marriage,” she wrote. “[It] simply wasn’t worth putting anyone I loved or love through the heartache.”
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Louise continued: “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.
“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.”
In February, Louise admitted that she had suicidal thoughts following her split from Jamie.
If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
